Factors Influencing Public Transport Passengers’ Pre-travel Information Seeking Behaviour: Advancing the Evidence Base
This paper seeks to explain factors influencing public transport passengers’ pre-travel information seeking behaviours in a British urban environment. Public transport traveller surveys were conducted to better understand the journey stages at which information was sought as well as the information sources used. A multivariate explanatory model of pre-travel information seeking behaviour was developed using binomial logistic regression. Explanatory factors considered include socio-demographics, trip context, frequency of public transport use, information sources used, and smartphone ownership and use. The findings suggest that travel behaviour (5+ trips weekly, and <1 trip weekly), socio-demographics (unemployment/unknown employment), trip context (journey planning stages, mode of transport), and preferred information sources (internet site, word-of-mouth, visits to travel shop/centre/library) were significant predictors of pre-travel information seeking behaviours among public transport users in Birmingham. While the final model found that bus users are significantly associated with use of internet sites as a source of pre-travel information, rail users rely significantly on a multiplicity of sources comprising internet sites, word-of-mouth, and visits to a travel shop/centre/library. The final model suggests that metro users tend not to seek pre-travel information. The odds of seeking pre-travel public transport information are 2.512 times greater for respondents who reported <1 trip per week as opposed to those who reported 5+ trips per week. These findings are relevant for passenger information strategies deployed by operators and authorities and can be used to caution against a “one size fits all" strategy for travel information service provision. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP030 Standing Committee on Public Transportation Marketing and Fare Policy. Factors Influencing Public Transport Passengers’ Pretravel Information-Seeking Behavior: Advancing the Evidence Base: This is an alternate title.
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Authors:
- Yeboah, Godwin
- Cottrill, Caitlin D
- Nelson, John D
- Corsar, David
- Markovic, Milan
- Edwards, Peter
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Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC, United States
- Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
- Date: 2018
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 17p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Information retrieval; Passengers; Public transit; Transit riders; Travel behavior; Travel surveys; Urban areas
- Geographic Terms: Birmingham (England)
- Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01658678
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 18-02956
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Jan 31 2018 4:59PM