Dwell Time Models of Passenger Encumbrance and Mobility Aid Use on Low-floor Transit Vehicles

This paper examined the effects of boarding and alighting passengers with mobility aids (wheelchairs, scooters, walkers and canes), or with large items (carts, strollers, bicycles, or carrying an infant) on bus stop dwell time in a fixed-route bus service. Data from the public transit system in Ann Arbor, Michigan were used in a case-control design that matched observations from 180 bus stops with at least one passenger encumbered with a mobility aid or large item boarding or alighting (cases) with 448 bus stops with the same number of passengers boarding and alighting but without any encumbrances (controls). A sequence of linear regression models examined the relationship between dwell time and the addition of variables representing encumbered passengers and ramp use to a set of explanatory variables typically used in dwell time analysis. The addition of the variables of total encumbered passengers and use of ramp increased the variance explanation of a dwell time model based on boarding passengers by fare payment, alighting passengers by door use, and passenger load from 37% to 55%. The findings indicate distinct patterns in the durations for boarding and alighting by passengers with vs. without encumbrances, and when a ramp is not used. This finding suggests that accounting for the presence of encumbered passengers and ramp use in dwell time analyses could help transit operators make their service more efficient and inclusive for all passengers and encourage more use of fixed-route transit among individuals with disabilities.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP015 Standing Committee on Transit Capacity and Quality of Service.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Kostyniuk, Lidia P
  • D'Souza, Clive R
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2019-1-13 to 2019-1-17
• Date: 2019

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 7p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Boarding and alighting; Bus transit; Dwell time; Fixed routes; Low floor vehicles; Mobility; Persons with disabilities; Ramps; Wheelchairs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Canes; Mobility aids; Strollers; Walkers
• Geographic Terms: Ann Arbor (Michigan)
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01697879
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 19-04559
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 1 2019 3:51PM