Assessing Travelers' Characteristics and Trip Information Influencing the Boarding and Alighting Experience at Bus Stops in a Developing Urban City: A Simultaneous Bivariate Ordered Probit Approach

Abstract

Improved public transport accessibility for the catchment area is crucial towards achieving increased transit ridership. It is essential to determine how passengers commute to various bus stops, how their preferences differ depending on their individual characteristics and passenger’s perception of prevailing commuting infrastructure to get to the bus stops to achieve optimal transit ridership. A simultaneous bivariate ordered probit model is performed utilizing data collected from a face-to-face survey at different bus stops in Dhaka, a developing urban city. Socio-economic characteristics, such as income, education level, etc., and trip characteristics, such as; frequency, purpose etc. were found to have significant impacts on boarding and alighting experience at bus stops. Furthermore, boarding experience was found connected with passenger’s alighting experience. The findings of this study would enable the policy makers to identify and improve the underlying factors affecting ridership of public buses in a developing urban society.