Do frequent satisfying trips by public transport impact its intended use in later life?

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that factors such as the built environment, attitudes and past behaviour can influence travel behaviour. However, the possible effect of travel satisfaction on travel mode choice remains underexplored, despite many studies focusing on travel satisfaction over the past years. It is likely that individuals experiencing satisfying trips with a certain travel mode will use this mode (more) frequently for future trips. In this study—using data from 984 students from Laval University, Canada—we analyse how satisfaction with public transport and the frequency of public transport use affect the intention to use public transport in later life stages. Our results indicate that public transport frequency, public transport satisfaction and the interaction between these two factors (i.e., the frequency of (dis)satisfying public transport trips) significantly affect people’s intentions to use public transport in later life, although variations in effect sizes exist between different life stages. Making public transport more pleasant and increasing ridership of children and young adults (e.g., by giving them free public transport passes) may consequently result in a higher public transport frequency in later life stages. We argue that travel satisfaction can play an important role in the formation of habitual mode use, and that satisfying trips (if undertaken frequently) are likely to be repeated in the future.

Influence of Mode Use on Level of Satisfaction with Daily Travel Routine: A Focus on Automobile Driving in the United States

“…In areas that have poor transit service and sprawled land use patterns, it is very difficult for other modes of transportation to compete effectively with the automobile. However, based on the findings in this study, mere investments in alternative modes of transportation and improving their level of service (as explored in Eriksson et al [ 8, 9 ] and De Vos et al [ 38 ]) are not necessarily going to draw people away from the automobile if the use of the auto-driving mode is itself associated with higher levels of satisfaction. This points to the continuing struggle of policymakers in creating effective alternatives to automobile driving and removing system constraints for switching to alternative modes of transportation ( 39 ).…”

Would You Wait? Bus Choice Behavior Analysis Considering Various Incentives

“…In turn, this leads to further problems of poor comfort for the users and inefficient use of capacity for the operator. Overcrowding can affect satisfaction, which has been shown to affect intention to use public transport ( 2 ). Therefore, finding an efficient, economical, and environmental way to distribute passengers should improve customer satisfaction, reduce operating costs, and reduce resource consumption.…”

An Integrated Ordered Probit Model for Evaluating University Commuters’ Satisfaction with Public Transport

“…The authors suggested that, in future research, the relationship between the desired PT frequency and the satisfaction level should be considered. It has also been proven that travel satisfaction plays a key role in shaping habitual PT use; for instance, by providing reliable and free PT [25]. Moreover, in the last ten years, researchers have investigated and assessed the relationship between travel satisfaction and trip characteristics [26], such as the mode choice and travel time [27,28], as well as how these factors correlate with the built environment [29].…”