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This paper provides empirical evidence on ways commuters access bus rapid transit (BRT) stations in Bangkok, Thailand. It is hypothesized that land use characteristics in areas near BRT stations affect passengers’ travel behavior, particularly the station access portion of the trip. The authors conducted interview surveys of BRT commuters and another survey of land use and transport network characteristics around BRT stations. It was found that the three most widely used modes of access were walking, motorcycle taxi, and bus, with average access distances of 373, 1,040, and 7,076 m, respectively. In addition, the logistic regression technique was used to model walking access mode choice as a function of land use characteristics around stations where passengers boarded the BRT, controlling socioeconomic and trip characteristics. It was found that land use characteristics, including residential, commercial, service, retail, and financial land use intensity in BRT station areas, affected passengers’ tendency to walk to BRT stations. The extent of the catchment area and the determinants of travel behavior have important implications for land use and transportation policies that aim to promote transit-oriented development, particularly those that allow for greater building density around transit stations.

An experimental project was initiated in Bangkok in 2015 to set up Park and Ride facilities near transit stations as part of an effort to encourage transit use. Incentives were offered to prospective users, including free one-month trial and free transit trips. This paper provides evidence on user characteristics of one of the facilities and its effectiveness in time savings and reducing car travel. After the free-trial period ended, approximately 45% of the users discontinued their use. The results from interview surveys of both continuing and discontinued users confirm time savings and reduction in car travel for a majority of users who had relied solely on cars before the modal shift. But car travel distance increased for users who previously drove to other facilities or used public transport to access transit stations. The radius of the catchment area is found to be 23.6 km. We also developed a logistic regression model of the decision to continue using the facility even after the trial period. The modeling results imply that travel time and driving distance before and after using Park and Ride clearly influence decision-making. Users with longer travel time and driving distance before using Park and Ride tend to continue using the facility.

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