RUNNING FOR THE 7:45: THE EFFECTS OF PUBLIC TRANSIT IMPROVEMENTS ON COMMUTER STRESS

This study reports on a natural experiment in which groups of commuters who are equivalent in most demographic respects and who had roughly equivalent commuter experiences were offered a new and improved mass transit route to work. By building a connection to existing tracks, New Jersey Transit provided a "one-seat ride" for commuters who previously had to transfer in Hoboken in order to take Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) trains into New York City. Some riders switched to the new route, while others continued to use their previous route. In this study, psychological and psychophysiological responses to these commuting options are examined using a quasi-experimental, pre-post change, field research design. Findings show that commuters on this new line had lower levels of stress than they had before the advent of this new train and than did other riders currently using the Hoboken-PATH option. The reduced trip time of the new service seemed to be a primary factor in the reduced stress. Predictability of the trip was also inversely correlated with stress, but was not, in this case, explanatory of the differences between the two different routes. Students acting as simulated commuters riding these same two routes experienced similar results to the real commuters, providing additional support to the finding that persons traveling the direct service route experience reduced stress.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00494488
• Corporate Authors:

  Kluwer Academic Publishers

  P.O. Box 17
  Dordrecht,   Netherlands 
• Authors:
  • Wener, R E
  • Evans, G W
  • Phillips, D
  • Nadler, N
• Publication Date: 2003-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 203-220
• Serial:
  • Transportation (Netherlands)
  • Volume: 30
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
  • ISSN: 0049-4488

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Before and after studies; Commuters; Field tests; Physiological aspects; Psychological aspects; Psychological stress; Public transit; Quality of service; Rail transit; Route choice; Transfers; Travel time
• Identifier Terms: New Jersey Transit; Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation
• Geographic Terms: New Jersey; New York (New York)
• Subject Areas: Finance; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00941181
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Apr 13 2003 12:00AM