Waiting for the Bus: Service Dependability and Commuter Mode Choice

Implicit in the decision to take a bus is the choice to accept the possibility of delay or uncertainty in journey duration. Frequent stops and the necessity to navigate urban traffic causes bus transit to be particularly susceptible to delays (Lin et al., 2008). The importance of providing reliable bus service in supporting bus patronage is well accepted in the theoretical literature (Bates et al., 2001). Rider surveys also support the hypothesis that bus reliability is important to patrons (Diab and El-Geneidy, 2012; Eboli and Mazzulla, 2007; Kou et al., 2017). Due to data limitations, empirical revealed preference (RP) analysis connecting observed vehicle reliability and bus mode choice have not been widely attempted. This paper will present detailed Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) data on New York City (NYC) buses from 2016. Several previous studies have suggested metrics for transforming AVL data into dependability metrics (Bullock et al., 2005; Chen et al., 2009; Diab and El-Geneidy, 2012; Mazloumi et al., 2009; Uno et al., 2009). This study will estimate bus dependability statistics directly from a large AVL data set. Subsequently, the metrics will be taken to mode share data in order to relate bus dependability to local variation in bus ridership. Results suggest service dependability is an important determinant of local bus mode share amongst commuters.

• Record URL:
  http://ctrf.ca/?page_id=4419
• Corporate Authors:

  Canadian Transportation Research Forum

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Tyndall, J
• Conference:
  • Canadian Transportation Research Forum 52nd Annual Conference - Canadian Transportation: 150 Years of Progress//Les transports au Canada : 150 ans de progrès - Winnipeg, Manitoba, May 28-31, 2017
• Publication Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Pagination: 1 PDF file, 887 KB, 8p.
• Monograph Title: Canadian Transportation Research Forum 52nd Annual Conference - Canadian Transportation: 150 Years of Progress//Les transports au Canada : 150 ans de progrès - Winnipeg, Manitoba, May 28-31, 2017

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automation; Buses; Conferences; Information processing; Location; Public transit; Traffic delays; Transportation modes; Variables
• Uncontrolled Terms: Selection
• Geographic Terms: Canada
• ITRD Terms: 3882: Automatic; 1272: Bus; 8018: Canada; 8525: Conference; 8655: Data processing; 9010: Delay; 9061: Location; 744: Public transport; 9072: Selection; 1145: Transport mode; 9086: Variability
• Subject Areas: Public Transportation; I71: Traffic Theory; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01678272
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)
• Files: ITRD, TAC
• Created Date: Aug 22 2018 1:41PM