Factors of Perceived Waiting Time and Implications on Passengers’ Satisfaction with Waiting Time
Abstract
In order to explore the influence factors on perceived waiting time, a multiple linear regression model has been used to quantitatively describe the relationship between perceived waiting time and various factors. The model is established with 234 data, which is surveyed with questionnaire at three stops in Harbin, China. The results show that several certain factors (“trip purpose - where to”, “presence of a companion - whether one has a companion or not”, “having a timing device - whether one has a timing device or not”, “riding frequency - how many times one takes one line per week” and “waiting behaviour - what one does while waiting for a bus”) have significant influence on perceived waiting time, which confirms previous findings and supports transferability of results. The significance of “waiting mood - howabout the mood while waiting for a bus” and “reserved waiting time - how long one will wait” are confirmed for the first time in this study. In contrast to previous studies, “waiting time interval - for how long in one day” is a negative variable and socioeconomic variables are non-significant. And it is found that the relationship between perceived waiting time and passengers’ satisfaction with the waiting time follows a decreasing exponential distribution. With this model, the variation trend of the section, where passenger satisfaction value is larger than 0 is obviously steeper than the section smaller than 0. Such result proves that passenger mood with short waiting time is more sensitive than with longer waiting time. And the borderline perceived waiting time, distinguishing satisfied from dissatisfied passengers is proven to be 7.87 minutes when assignment interval of satisfaction is (-25.25], when satisfaction is positive (larger than 0), the accuracy being 70.30%, while the accuracy is 82.71% for
negative satisfaction (less than 0).
References
Psarros I, Kepaptsoglou K, Karlaftis MG. An empirical investigation of passenger wait time perceptions using hazard-based duration models. Journal of Public Transportation. 2011;14(3):109-122. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/2375-0901.14.3.6
Mishalani RG, McCord MM, Wirtz J. Passenger wait time perceptions at bus stops: Empirical results and impact on evaluating real-time bus arrival information. Journal of Public Transportation. 2006;9(2):89-106. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/2375-0901.9.2.5
Tyrinopoulos Y, Antoniou C. Public transit user satisfaction: Variability and policy implications. Transport Policy. 2008;15(4):260-272. doi:10.1016/j.tranpol.2008.06.002
Eboli L, Mazzulla G. A methodology for evaluating transit service quality based on subjective and objective measures from the passenger’s point of view. Transport Policy. 2011;18(1):172-181. doi:10.1016/j.tranpol.2010.07.007
Hensher DA. Hierarchical stated response designs and estimation in the context of bus user preferences: a case study. Transportation Research Board; 1989-1; Washington, D.C.; 2012.
Hensher DA, Stopher P, Bullock P. Service quality–– developing a service quality index in the provision of commercial bus contracts. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 2003;37(6):499-517. doi:10.1016/S0965-8564(02)00075-7
Wen CH, Lan LW, Chen CH. Passengers perception on service quality and their choice for intercity bus services. Transportation Research Board, 84th Annual Meeting; Washington, D.C.; 2005.
Das S, Pandit D. Importance of user perception in evaluating level of service for bus transit for a developing country like India: a review. Transport Reviews. 2013;33(4):402-420. doi:
1080/01441647.2013.789571
Daskalakis NG, Stathopoulos A. Users’ perceptive evaluation of bus arrival time deviations in stochastic networks. Journal of Public Transportation. 2008;11(4):25-38. doi: http://dx.doi.
org/10.5038/2375-0901.11.4.2
Friman M, Gärling T. Frequency of negative critical incidents and satisfaction with public transport services. II. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. 2001;8(2):105-114. doi:10.1016/S0969-6989(00)00004-7
van Hagen M, Galetzka M, Pruyn A. Perception and evaluation of waiting times at stations of Netherlands Railways (NS). Proceedings of the European Transport Conference 2007; 2007 Oct 17-19; Leiden, The Netherlands; 2008.
Watkins KE, Ferris B, Borning A, et al. Where Is My Bus? Impact of mobile real-time information on the perceived and actual wait time of transit riders. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 2011;45(8):839-848. doi:10.1016/j.tra.2011.06.010
Hui MK, Alan CT, Zhou L. Interaction between two types of information on reactions to delays. Marketing Letters. 2006;17(2):151-162. doi: 10.1007/s11002-006-5927-3
Ohmori N, Hirano T, Harata N, et al. Passengers’ waiting behavior at bus stop. Traffic and Transportation Studies: Proceedings of ICTTS 2004; 2004 Aug 2-4; Dalian, PR China.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
