Findings from measuring door-to-door travellers’ travel satisfaction with traditional and smartphone app survey methods in eight European cities

This study investigates how different travel satisfaction survey methods influence the reported level of door-to-door travel satisfaction among travellers. The travel satisfaction measurement survey tools tested consisted of two types of smartphone applications (a satellite navigation app and a game app), an on-line survey, a paper-based semi-structured questionnaire and a focus group. Each of the measurement tools comprised of a similar set of questions, but in different formats, aimed at exploring the pros and cons of each tool among different group of travellers. In total, 5,275 valid responses were collected during the survey period from eight European cities and five FIA (Federation Internationale de I'Automobile) national motorist networks. The analysis results, with ordered logit model of travellers' reported overall satisfaction, showed that the travel satisfaction reported by different survey methods and different travel modes and user groups, correlated with distinct groups of key determinants. The relationship between and within these key determinants, however, was far from straight forward. Some were more complex than others. Some issues, such as parking availability and security, that are mostly discussed by policy makers and users may not be the ones that directly correlate with the users' overall travel satisfactions. Consistent with previous studies, the travellers' mood and previous experience influenced the reported overall journey satisfaction

Satisfaction with Public Transport Trips

Continuous urban growth, environmental issues, competition for limited space, longer commuting distances as well as the need to promote equity and equality in society are the primary reasons that make the improvement of public transport (PT) services a key policy area in many countries across the globe. Travel satisfaction measures the perceived quality of the PT service and it is an important aspect that operators and PT authorities need to consider when improving the service offered.Desk research identified a number of important issues that previous studies had neglected. These knowledge gaps include the investigation of: (a) the evolution over time of the determinants (service attributes) of travel satisfaction, (b) the main determinants of travel satisfaction for different traveler segments and travel modes; (c) the most relevant part of door-to-door trips for different types of trip configurations; (d) the impact on the travel experience of weather, accessibility and proximity measures and built-environment characteristics of the first mile of the trip; (e) the [non]linear and [a]symmetric nature of the relationship between PT service attributes and overall travel satisfaction for different travelers and travel modes.The five papers included in this doctoral thesis present an array of approaches and methodologies aiming at increasing overall travel satisfaction with PT services while covering the knowledge gaps that previous research failed to address.Paper I, investigates the determinants of PT satisfaction and their evolution over time (2001-2013). The results show that: a) customer interface and operation, and at a lesser extent trip duration are the quality of service attributes that need to be prioritized; b) while satisfaction, in general, remains rather constant, relative importance fluctuates year after year. However, the QoSAs remain in the same quadrant of the priority map and thus the determinants of travel satisfaction stay invariable.Paper II, reduces the diversity of needs and priorities of Swedish travelers to 5 distinctive multi-modal travelers’ segments. Considering the importance attached to service attributes, these travelers’ segments exhibit geographical disparities and in between-groups overall similarity. Nevertheless, some noticeable differences can be observed. Service attributes’ importance levels reveal overall changes in appreciations and consumption goals over time. The more frequent PT user segments are more satisfied across the board and are characterized by a more balanced distribution of attribute importance while one of the groups - rural motorist commuters - is markedly dissatisfied with the service operation attributes.Paper III, first aims to understand how travelers combine trip legs’ satisfactions into an overall evaluation of their trip, and then to investigate the relative importance of satisfaction with access, main and egress segments for the entire door-to-door travel experience. A number of both normative and heuristic satisfaction aggregation rules are tested for different types of trip configurations. The results show that normative rules can better reproduce overall travel satisfaction than heuristic rules, indicating that all trip legs need to be considered when evaluating the overall travel experience. In particular, weighting satisfaction with individual trip legs with perceived trip leg durations yield the best predictor of overall travel satisfaction, especially when applying a penalty for each waiting time of 3 or 4 times in- vehicle or walking time.Paper IV, investigates the impact that built-environment, accessibility and weather characteristics from the access stage of the trip have on the overall travel experience. This is done in two geographical contexts (urban and peri-urban and rural) and with models regarding the last and the overall trips. The results indicate that perceptual and non-perceptual built-environment variables have a rather weak effect in the overall satisfaction. Safety feelings around PT stations/stops have an effect on the overall travel experience while safety feelings related to travelers’ neighborhood of residence have none. Accessibility results indicate that living in an area that is well-connected to all other areas, and in particular to the attractive ones, has a positive impact on the overall travel experience. Most of the tested weather conditions at the time of the start of the trip exert an impact on travel satisfaction.Based on the three-factor theory, Paper V classifies quality of service attributes regarding their influence (positive, negative or both) on overall travel satisfaction. The analysis is done for different traveler segments and travel modes and presented in the form of a series of three-level cubes. For a general travel, attributes that can mainly bring dissatisfaction when they are not well-provided are, staff and assistance and ticket accessibility (basic factor). These are followed by attributes that can provide both satisfaction and dissatisfaction in a similar way and depending on their performance level (performance factor). Performance attributes are related to operational aspects (trip duration and operation) and safety perceptions while traveling. Quality of service attributes that can mainly bring satisfaction when they are well provided are network and on-board conditions (exciting factor). Important differences are found in the attribute factor classification between travel modes and segments which indicates that a “one size fits all” approach is not recommendable to adopt.This set of papers can help authorities to better evaluate and cater for travelers’ needs by supporting the allocation of resources and prioritizing policy measures in the most impactful part of the door-to-door trip and to the most important factors.QC 20181218</p

Temporal and spatial variability of determinants of satisfaction with public transport in Sweden

Measuring and analysing satisfaction with public transport services facilitates service performance monitoring, market analysis, benchmarking and the identification of priority areas. The systematic and regular collection of information concerning satisfaction enables to investigate how passengers’ satisfaction as well as its determinants changes over time and space. These changes may be driven by changes in service quality or shifts in passengers’ expectations and preferences. This study analyses how satisfaction with public transport and its determinants evolved over time (in the years 2001-2013) and across space (in 5 county-regions) in Sweden. The determinants of satisfaction are identified based on a factor analysis and the estimation of multivariate satisfaction regression models. The superposition of the findings culminates in two dynamic passenger satisfaction priority maps which allow identifying priority areas based on observed trends in satisfaction with quality of service attributes and their respective importance. The deterioration of Overall Satisfaction with public transport in Sweden in recent years is driven by a decrease in satisfaction with Customer interface and Length of Trip Time. These two service aspects as well as Operation and Network were found key determinants of Overall Satisfaction which users from most of the county-regions consistently rate among the least satisfactory. The results of this thesis are instrumental in supporting service providers in designing measures that will foster satisfaction in the future

Improving Travel Satisfaction with Public Transport

The existing link between PT travelers’ satisfaction, ridership and loyalty prove the relevance of improving overall trip satisfaction. The thesis present an array of approaches and methodologies aiming at increasing overall satisfaction with PT door-to-door trips while covering important issues that previous research has failed to address. These knowledge gaps include: disregarding the different needs and priorities of different type of travelers; overlooking the evolution over time and across geographical areas that overall satisfaction and satisfaction with specific service attributes may experience; and, neglecting the importance of access and egress legs. Based on the Swedish customer satisfaction barometer (2001-2013), an investigation of the determinants of PT satisfaction and their evolution over time (I) shows that: a) the deterioration of overall satisfaction with PT in Sweden in recent years is driven by a decrease in satisfaction with customer interface and length of trip time; b) these two service aspects as well as operation are found as key determinants of overall satisfaction which users consistently rate among the least satisfactory. The diversity of needs and priorities of SKT travelers was reduced into 5 distinctive multi-modal travelers’ groups (II). These travelers’ groups exhibited geographical disparities and an in between-groups overall similarity in the importance attached to the service attributes. Nevertheless, some noticeable differences could be observed. The service attributes’ importance levels reveal overall changes in appreciations and consumption goals over time. A number of both normative and heuristic satisfaction aggregation rules are tested on METPEX dataset for different types of trip configurations (III). The results show that normative rules can better reproduce overall travel satisfaction than heuristic rules, indicating that all trip legs need to be considered when evaluating the overall travel experience.Kontinuerlig urban tillväxt, miljöproblem, konkurrens om begränsat utrymme, längre pendlingsavstånd samt behovet av att främja rättvisa och jämlikhet i samhället är de främsta anledningarna till förbättringar av kollektivtrafikens (KT) tjänster och attraktionskraft för att få fler resenärer att byta från bil till KT och därmed en viktig politisk fråga i många länder över hela världen. Den befintliga kopplingen mellan KT-resenärens tillfredsställelse, antalet passagerare och lojalitet visar betydelsen av att förbättra resans övergripande tillfredsställelse. De tre artiklar som ingår i denna licentiatavhandling presenterar en rad tillvägagångssätt och metoder som syftar till att öka den totala tillfredsställelsen med KT i ”från dörr till dörr”-resor samt täcker viktiga frågor som tidigare forskning har misslyckats med att ta itu med. Dessa kunskapsluckor inkluderar de olika behov och prioriteringar som olika typer av resenärer har, utveckling över tid och över geografiska områden som total tillfredsställelse och tillfredsställelse med specifika serviceattribut kan påverkas av samt försummelsen av resans av- och påstigningsdelar. Baserat på den svenska kundtillfredsställelsebarometern Svensk Kollektivtrafikbarometer (SKT) visar en undersökning av bestämningsfaktorerna för KT- tillfredsställelse och deras utveckling över tiden för KT-användare under åren 2001-2013 att (Artikel I): a) det skett en försämring av den sammanlagda tillfredsställelsen med KT i Sverige under de senaste åren som drivits av en minskning av tillfredsställelsen med kundgränssnittet och resans tid; b) att dessa två serviceaspekter samt drift är helt avgörande för övergripande tillfredsställelse och som resenärer konsekvent graderar bland de minst tillfredsställande. Mångfalden av behov och prioriteringar för SKT-resenärer reducerades till 5 distinkta multimodala resenärsgrupper (Artikel II). Dessa resenärsgrupper uppvisade geografiska skillnader och en i mellan-grupper övergripande likhet i vikt som fästs vid serviceattribut. Likväl kan några märkbara skillnader observeras. Serviceattributens betydelse avslöjar övergripande förändringar i uppskattnings- och konsumtionsmål över tid. De mer frekventa KT-användarsegmenten är mer nöjda över hela spektret och kännetecknas av en mer balanserad fördelning av attributens betydelse, medan en av grupperna – bilpendlare på landsbygden - är markant missnöjda med service- och driftattribut. Ett antal både normativa och heuristiska regler för aggregerad tillfredsställelse testas på METPEX-data (A Measurement Tool to determine the quality of the Passenger EXperience) för olika typer av resekonfigurationer (Artikel III). Detta görs för att förstå hur resenärer kombinerar delresors tillfredsställelse i en övergripande utvärdering av hela resan och för att undersöka den relativa betydelsen av tillfredsställelse med påstignings-, huvud- och avstigningsdel för hela reseupplevelsen i ”från dörr till dörr”-resor. Resultaten visar att normativa regler bättre kan återge övergripande resetillfredsställelse än heuristiska regler, vilket tyder på att alla resans delar måste beaktas när man utvärderar den samlade reseupplevelsen. I synnerhet ger viktning av tillfredsställelse med individuella delresor och de upplevda delresornas restider den bästa predikatorn för övergripande resetillfredsställelse, särskilt vid tillämpning av en väntetidsvikt på 3 eller 4 gånger i fordons- eller gångtid. Denna uppsättning artiklar skulle kunna hjälpa myndigheter att bättre utvärdera och tillgodose resenärernas behov genom att stödja tilldelning av resurser och prioriterandet av åtgärder i den mest effektfulla delen i en ”från dörr till dörr”-resa.El rápido crecimiento urbano, problemas medioambientales, la competencia por el uso de espacios cada vez más limitados, el aumento de la distancia en los viajes pendulares así como la necesidad de fomentar una sociedad más equitativa e igualitaria, son algunas de las principales razones que hacen de la mejora de los servicios de transporte público (TP) y del trasvase de usuarios del transporte privado motorizado al TP una política clave en muchos países del mundo. La relación existente entre la mejora de la satisfacción del usuario de TP con el incremento de usuarios y de su fidelidad, prueban la importancia de mejorar la satisfacción global del usuario con el viaje. Los tres artículos incluidos en esta tesis de mitad de doctorado, en Suecia Licentiate thesis, presentan un variedad de enfoques y métodos que tienen como objetivo incrementar la satisfacción global con los viajes de puerta a puerta (desde el origen hasta el destino final) en los que el transporte público está involucrado, a la par de cubrir cuestiones importantes que no han abordado estudios previos. Estas lagunas de conocimientos incluyen: ignorar las distintas prioridades y necesidades de distintos tipos de viajeros; pasar por alto que tanto la satisfacción global con el viaje como la satisfacción con los atributos específicos del servicio pueden experimentar cambios a lo largo del tiempo y entre diversas zonas geográficas; y, el obviar la importancia que otras etapas del viaje (acceso y egreso), diferentes a la principal, pueden ejercer sobre la valoración global del viaje. Basado en el barómetro sueco de satisfacción del usuario de transporte público (SKT), se estudian los determinantes de la satisfacción con el TP y su evolución temporal, para usuarios de TP y para el período 2001-2013 (Artículo I). El artículo muestra que: a) el deterioro de la satisfacción global con el TP sueco experimentado en los últimos años se debe a la disminución de la satisfacción con el modo en el que la agencia de TP gestiona las quejas y el trato con los usuarios (customer interface), y de la duración del viaje (length of trip time); b) frequencia y la fiabilidad del servicio (operation) se suman a los dos ya mencionados atributos del servicio como factores determinantes de la satisfacción global con el TP. Son precisamente estos tres atributos los que consistentemente reciben unas valoraciones situadas entre las menos satisfactorias.  Basándose en las características de tipo socio-económico, en las del viaje y en coeficientes de accesibilidad, se obtienen cinco grupos de viajeros multimodales relativamente homogéneos, los cuales ayudan a simplificar la complejidad existente, en términos de necesidades y prioridades, de todos los viajeros suecos - SKT (Artículo II). Los cinco grupos de viajeros exhiben disparidades geográficas y, en general, una semejanza entre grupos en la importancia atribuida a los atributos del servicio. Sin embargo, existen algunas diferencias notorias. A lo largo del tiempo, los niveles de importancia de los atributos del servicio revelan cambios generales en las apreciaciones y objetivos de consumo. Los grupos de viajeros que viajan más frecuentemente con transporte público están, de forma generalizada, más satisfechos con el viaje y muestran una distribución más equilibrada de la importancia dada a los atributos del servicio. Se hace destacable la marcada insatisfacción que uno de los grupos – los automovilistas rurales pendulares (rural motorist commuters)- muestran con los atributos relacionados con la operación (fiabilidad y frequencia). Una serie de reglas de agregación de la satisfacción del viajero, tanto normativas como heurísticas, son examinadas en el conjunto de datos de METPEX (Una herramienta de medición para determinar la calidad de la experiencia del viajero) para distintos tipos de configuraciones de viaje (Artículo III). El objetivo de este artículo es; entender como los viajeros combinan la satisfacción con cada una de las etapas del viaje en su valoración global del viaje, e investigar la importancia relativa que cada una de las tres etapas del viaje (acceso, principal y egreso) tienen sobre la experiencia de un viaje completo de puerta a puerta. Los resultados muestran que, en comparación con las reglas heurísticas, las reglas normativas pueden reproducir de una mejor manera la satisfacción global con el viaje; indicando que todas las etapas del viaje necesitan ser consideradas cuando se evalúa la experiencia global del viaje. En particular la ponderación de la satisfacción con cada una de los segmentos del viaje[1] con la duración percibida para cada una de los segmentos del viaje produce el mejor indicador de la satisfacción global del viaje, especialmente cuando se aplica una penalización por cada minuto de espera equivalente a 3 o 4 veces el tiempo en movimiento y/o caminando. Éste conjunto de artículos pretende ayudar a las operadores y autoridades pertinentes a evaluar y proveer de la mejor manera posible las necesidades de los viajeros mediante la priorización de medidas y asignación de recursos a la parte más relevante del viaje multimodal puerta a puerta.  [1] Un segmento del viaje (trip leg) es la parte más pequeña en la que se descompone un viaje de puerta a puerta. Una etapa del viaje puede estar compuesta de uno o más segmentos del viaje. QC 20170202</p

How does travel satisfaction sum up? An exploratory analysis in decomposing the door-to-door experience for multimodal trips

Understanding how satisfaction with individual trip legs aggregates to the overall travel experience for different types of trips will enable the identification of the trip legs that are most impactful. For this purpose we analyze data on retrospective evaluations of entire multi-modal trip experiences and satisfaction with individual trip legs. We formulate and describe alternative aggregation rules and underpin them in theory and previous empirical findings. The results of a series of regression models show that for a large number of multi-modal trip configurations normative rules can better reproduce overall travel satisfaction than heuristic rules. This indicates that all trip legs need to be considered when evaluating the overall travel experience, especially for trips legs involving waiting and/or transferring time. In particular, weighting satisfaction with individual trip legs with perceived trip leg durations yielded the best predictor of overall travel satisfaction. No evidence for a disproportional effect of the last or most exceptional part of the trip was found. However, a larger dataset would be needed in order to replicate this work and potentially generalize the results. This research contributes to the literature on combining multi-episodic experiences and provides novel empirical evidence in the transport domain

Do accessibility, vulnerability, opportunity, and travel characteristics have uniform impacts on traveler experience?

Using a door-to-door travel survey (METPEX) for Stockholm and the year 2014, this study analyzed the effects of quality of infrastructure and design of public transport premises on the overall travel experience and on the trip stages for different traveler segments. The market segmentation approach was based on travel characteristics, captivity, vulnerability and travel attitudes which were either found to be impactful in previous literature or that had not been deeply explored.   A latent class cluster model segmentation process yields 4 traveler segments: i) content urban commuters, ii) unfulfilled rural travelers, iii) active leisure travelers, and, iv) vulnerable mode switchers. The model estimation results show similarities in terms of appreciations and needs between the attributes that influence the whole trip and the different trip stages. Two attributes are found to be of outermost importance across all trip stages but especially for the whole trip and the main mode: travel modes integration and quality of infrastructure for the entire trip.   This study also unveils particularities and important differences amongst different trip stages and traveler segments. Therefore stakeholders would do well in treating travelers differently when evaluating infrastructure and design characteristics of PT. This study can help stakeholders to tailor their policies to tackle with specific traveler’s needs.QC 20181106</p

Traffic on equal terms : should cyclists ride in the middle of the lane?

Idag finns uttalade mål om att andelen cykelresor ska öka och att det särskilt i tätort är angeläget att ställa om till ökat aktivt resande. Samtidigt är trafikmiljön främst byggd för biltrafik, vilket också yttrar sig i att utformningen ställer högre krav på cyklandes uppmärksamhet än på fordonsförares. En möjlighet till att åtgärda detta skulle kunna vara att flytta cykeltrafiken till mitten av körbanan i vissa tätortsmiljöer. Utöver målet att skapa ”lika villkor” mellan trafikantgrupperna ur ett uppmärksamhetsperspektiv kan detta också påverka cykelns position i trafikanthierarkin. Förslaget är ett steg i riktning mot integration av trafik istället för den idag rådande trenden mot separation.  För att undersöka potentialen, erfarenheter och möjliga konsekvenser genomfördes dels en omvärldsanalys, dels diskussioner i sju fokusgrupper med olika intressegrupper. Konceptet ”cykelgata” finns med olika utformningar i ett antal länder. Här är lärdomen att det krävs större cykelflöden för att cykelgatan ska fungera, men det finns inga entydiga resultat på vilken utformning som är mest lämplig. Hur cykelgator uppfattas idag är också beroende av vilken typ av cyklist och cykelresa det gäller. Detta kom även fram i diskussionerna i fokusgrupperna. Man var i stort sett överens om att bilen idag har en dominerande roll, och man var teoretiskt positivt till förslaget att ha cykeltrafik i mitten av körbanan, men det identifierades ett antal praktiska samt upplevda problem och hinder.  Sannolikt är inte en enskild åtgärd tillräcklig för att öka andelen resor som genomförs med cykel. I samverkan med andra åtgärder kan det dock bidra till att lyfta cykelns status som transportmedel. There are explicit goals to increase the modal share of bicycle trips and to promote a modal shift to active transport especially in urban areas. At the same time today’s transport system is mainly built for cars. One of the consequences is that in the same environment attentional demands on cyclists are higher than on drivers of motor vehicles. This could be remedied by relocating bicycle traffic to the centre of the lane in certain urban environments. In addition to creating equality between road user groups with respect to attentional demands this measure can strengthen the position of the bicycle in the hierarchy of road users. It would entail a step towards traffic integration, braking today’s trend to separate motor vehicles from other traffic.  To analyse potential benefits and drawbacks, international solutions and experiences were investigated and seven focus group discussions with different stakeholders were conducted. The concept “bicycle boulevard” exists in several countries and comes in different shapes. For the concept to work the share of cyclists needs to be high, but no clear-cut recommendations regarding the most adequate design can be given. How bicycle boulevards are experienced also depends on the cyclist and the purpose of the trip. This emerged in the focus group discussions, too. There was a general agreement that the car is the dominant transport mode today. While it was seen as positive in principle to relocate bicycle traffic to the centre of the lane, a number of practical and psychological obstacles were identified.  It is unlikely that a single measure will be successful in increasing the share of bicycle trips. However, in combination with other provisions, the suggested physical relocation of biycle traffic may strengthen the status of the bicycle as mode of transport

Αττικοβοιωτικός κόσμος

Using a door-to-door travel survey (METPEX) for Stockholm and the year 2014, this study analyzed the effects of quality of infrastructure and design of public transport premises on the overall travel experience and on the trip stages for different traveler segments. The market segmentation approach was based on travel characteristics, captivity, vulnerability and travel attitudes which were either found to be impactful in previous literature or that had not been deeply explored.   A latent class cluster model segmentation process yields 4 traveler segments: i) content urban commuters, ii) unfulfilled rural travelers, iii) active leisure travelers, and, iv) vulnerable mode switchers. The model estimation results show similarities in terms of appreciations and needs between the attributes that influence the whole trip and the different trip stages. Two attributes are found to be of outermost importance across all trip stages but especially for the whole trip and the main mode: travel modes integration and quality of infrastructure for the entire trip.   This study also unveils particularities and important differences amongst different trip stages and traveler segments. Therefore stakeholders would do well in treating travelers differently when evaluating infrastructure and design characteristics of PT. This study can help stakeholders to tailor their policies to tackle with specific traveler’s needs.QC 20181106</p

Individual, Travel, and Bus Stop Characteristics Influencing Travelers’ Safety Perceptions

Ensuring safety during door-to-door public transport trips is a fundamental challenge to service providers as safety influences individuals’ mobility. Using reported safety perceptions of travelers waiting at six bus stops with different characteristics in Stockholm, this study investigates factors that have an impact on determining travelers’ perceived safety and crime perceptions. This is done by assessing the importance of real-time information provision and the environmental characteristics of bus stops during the day and at night for different types of crime, after controlling for travelers’ individual and trip characteristics, and their previous experiences of victimization. Interaction effects of age, gender, and travel frequency are also tested. The  results  suggest  that  bus  shelter  characteristics,  natural  surveillance,  and  trustworthy  real-time  information  are  the most important factors influencing safety and crime perceptions. Additionally, safety perceptions are strongly influenced by previous experiences of victimization. The effect of perceived feelings about crime and safety are found to be nuanced by age and gender. Unlike some common beliefs, travelers: (1) feel less worried about becoming a victim of crime at bus stops associated with high crime rates; (2) prefer opaque shelters at night; and (3) have higher safety perceptions when the stop is located in an area of mixed land use. The impact of a bus stop’s number of passers-by is found to be insignificant. No direct or indirect effects can be attributed to frequency of travel by bus, indicating that familiar places and routine behavior have noeffect on declared crime and safety perceptions.QC 20180903</p