twelve - User preferences and route choice

Summary

Introduction

To efficiently design and operate public transport (PT) systems it is important to understand the decision making process of users as well as their preferences and perceptions. The introduction of BRT corridors in a city, as any major PT system modification, can have significant impacts on the decision making processes of the travellers. Let us consider the case of Santiago, Chile, where there are two main public transport modes: buses and metro. In February 2007, the entire PT system of Santiago was changed from a non-integrated ‘door to door’ bus system to a ‘trunk and feeder’ integrated system. Two main behavioural changes occurred: many travellers (who previously had a direct service) were forced to transfer, and many travellers (who previously used only buses) could access the metro system without having to pay a new fare. When designing the new system, and forecasting what would happen, it was essential to understand how travellers would perceive transfers and what they would choose under a single fare.

Decisions can be considered at two levels: (i) choice of a PT mode within the system (bus, metro, combined modes, and so on) and (ii) choice of travel route (selection of PT lines and transfer points along the way). These decisions are interrelated, and their order might depend on a particular PT system's characteristics. Traditional mode and route choice models tend to consider only tangible attributes (that are easily measured/understood, such as fare, travel time, and number of transfers) to analyse and explain the travellers’ decisions (Ortúzar and Willumsen 2011). Nevertheless, we know that intangible attributes, such as safety and comfort, are also considered by individuals (Koppelman and Pas 1980; Ben-Akiva et al 2002; Raveau et al 2010). These attributes tend to be highly subjective and cannot generally be quantified directly; therefore, we need to study them to understand how they affect individuals’ decisions.

The general objective of this chapter is to understand how travellers choose their modes and routes when travelling in a PT system, identify the relevant factors taken into account and quantify the impact that different characteristics of the system (such as station infrastructure, available information and schematic maps) may have on the preferences of the travellers. This allows the PT system to be evaluated and analysed at a tactical level and allows future scenarios to be forecast, which is necessary for selecting the ideal design and operation of the PT system.