Measuring crowding and travel time trade-off in public transport using stated preferences data

Abstract

The relationship between train occupancy, comfort and perceived security is analysed, using data from a survey and stated choice (SC) study of users of Santiago’s Metro (subway) system. Mode choice models where crowding is one of the main explanatoryvariables are estimated and crowding multipliers to measure its relevanceon travel time disutility are computed. International comparisons with previous studies the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Sweden and Singapore are discused. The type of estimated models include Multinomial Logit, Mixed Logit, Latent Classand Discrete-Continuous mixture models. Results show that there issignificant heterogeneity in crowding perception across the population, in which users classes with low and high crowding multipliers are identified. In the SC survey, occupancy levels were shown with three alternative forms of representation (text, 2D diagram or photo), however we did not find relevant influences of the different forms of representation on crowding perception.