Waiting time perceptions at transit stops and stations: Effects of basic amenities, gender, and security

Abstract

a b s t r a c tWaiting time in transit travel is often perceived negatively and high-amenity stops and stations are becoming increasingly popular as strategies for mitigating transit riders' aversion to waiting. However, beyond recent evidence that realtime transit arrival information reduces perceived waiting time, there is limited empirical evidence as to which other specific station and stop amenities can effectively influence user perceptions of waiting time. To address this knowledge gap, the authors conducted a passenger survey and video-recorded waiting passengers at different types of transit stops and stations to investigate differences between survey-reported waiting time and video-recorded actual waiting time. Results from the survey and video observations show that the reported wait time on average is about 1.21 times longer than the observed wait time. Regression analysis was employed to explain the variation in riders' reported waiting time as a function of their objectively observed waiting time, as well as station and stop amenities, weather, time of the day, personal demographics, and trip characteristics. Based on the regression results, most waits at stops with no amenities are perceived at least 1.3 times as long as they actually are. Basic amenities including benches and shelters significantly reduce perceived waiting times. Women waiting for more than 10 min in perceived insecure surroundings report waits as dramatically longer than they really are, and longer than do men in the same situation. The authors recommend a focus on providing basic amenities at stations and stops as broadly as possible in transit systems, and a particular focus on stops on low-frequency routes and in less safe areas for security measures.

Comparing importance-performance analysis and three-factor theory in assessing rider satisfaction with transit

“…Comfort while waiting at station/stop is a performance factor for conventional bus and BRT, but it is an excitement factor for metro transit. Waiting time is more important than in-vehicle travel time (TCRP, 2003) and amenities at station/stop influence riders' perception of waiting time (Fan, Guthrie, & Levinson, 2016). Therefore, comfort while waiting is important for transit riders.…”

Choosing Between Tram and Metro in Hong Kong – Utility, Affect and Demographics

“…While a great deal of design effort has focussed on the interior comfort of transit vehicles, it is also found that conditions of access to the rail or bus stop as well as the facilities at the stop played an important role in the degree of satisfaction with the service [21]. Estimated waiting time at bus stops varied considerably as a function of the provision of benches and enclosures [22]. At rail stations in Grenoble, heating and ventilation, along with other factors in comfortable waiting conditions had significant impact on perceived waiting time [23].…”

Trans-Sense: Real Time Transportation Schedule Estimation Using Smart Phones

“…A growing interest in analyzing traffic problems in developing countries has been witnessed over the years [5]- [8]. Systems like [9], [10] are among the recent studies that attempted to estimate passengers' waiting time distributions and perceptions, depending on service and stations characteristics. There are many definitions of the waiting time.…”

“…The first expresses it as the ratio of the actual *Electrical Engineering department, Aswan faculty of Engineering, Aswan University, Egypt, 81542. time waiting (either for getting on a vehicle or In-Vehicle Time (IVT)) to the scheduled time [11]. The second, adopted by transportation models, assumes that average waiting times are half the service headway given random passenger arrivals [9], [10]. The definition adopted in this paper is the first one.…”