Title:
Extent, Nature, and Covariates of Multitasking of Rail Passengers in an Urban Corridor: A Dutch Case Study
Abstract:
A study of the frequency and nature of multitasking on Dutch trains is described. Descriptive and model analyses were carried out on the basis of field observations on intercity and regional trains. The most frequent task was “doing nothing,” followed by “talking socially” and “reading a newspaper.” On average, most time was spent in “study,” followed by “reading a book,” and “puzzles.” A multinomial logistic regression model that describes the relationship between the probability of conducting a particular task and several personal and travel context variables is estimated. The most important variables that influence probability of the distinguished tasks are the presence of accompanying persons, age of traveler, travel day, type of train, crowdedness of train, and time of day. This type of information is useful for train companies to improve service quality and design marketing efforts and pricing regimes.
