Dissecting the Role of Transit Service Attributes in Attracting Commuters: Lessons from a Comprehensive RP-SP Study on Commuting Mode Switching Behaviour in Toronto

摘要

This paper presents an investigation on the influence of transit service attributes onmode switching towards local transit for home-based commuting trips. Theinvestigation involves the design, implementation, and analysis of a COmmutingSurvey for MOde Shift (COSMOS). COSMOS exploits Revealed Preference (RP)mode choice information to build the Stated Preference (SP) mode switchingexperiments. The collected dataset is used for estimating econometric choice modelsof mode switching towards transit. Separate models are estimated for car drivers andshared ride users. The empirical models show that travel cost and in-vehicle traveltime are of lower importance compared to other transit Level of Service (LOS)attributes such as crowding level and number of transfers. It is also evident thatcommuters prefer rail-based transit modes (e.g. subway, and LRT) to other transitoptions (e.g. BRT). The developed models can enrich the transit service planningtoolbox for delivering more efficient and attractive services that maximize transitridership along with other objectives.