01590421

Component

The 2007 Beijing Public Transit Fare Reform was accompanied by high levels of crowding and poor air-conditioning provision on public transit. The authors found high dissatisfaction regarding thermal comfort and crowding among Beijing’s commuters during summer time. Through an intercept survey of 813 regular Beijing residents using a stated-preference (SP) approach, they found that high temperatures and crowding levels on buses or subways have statistically significant negative effects on the probability of choosing that mode. In general, respondents were more sensitive to high crowding levels compared to high temperatures, agreeing with literature. Poor thermal comfort and high crowding levels potentially have a higher negative impact on transit ridership than doubling Beijing’s 2014 transit fare prices. Nevertheless, transit service quality is highly subjective and their effects are context specific. The case of Beijing suggests that under extreme conditions, service quality attributes that are often overlooked such as onboard temperatures and crowding will have notable impacts on commuter mode choice.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP015 Standing Committee on Transit Capacity and Quality of Service. Alternate title: Thermal Comfort and Crowding on Public Transit and Their Effects on Commuter Mode Choice in Beijing, China

01584066

16-4866

English

15p

2016

Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables

Commuters; Crowds; Mode choice; Passenger comfort; Public transit; Stated preferences; Temperature

Beijing (China)

Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2016 Paper #16-4866

PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 6:08PM