A Framework for Determining Commuter Preference Along a Proposed Bus Rapid Transit Corridor

Abstract Study of commuters ‘attitude towards public transport and their perceptions of existing service quality for different service attributes of public transport have gained immense importance in recent years for determining appropriate public transport service levels so as to retain the loyalty of existing users and for attracting potential users. Commuters ‘perception of service quality varies for different service delivery environments due to different urban settings, i.e., land use and traffic system, location and route characteristics, level of accessibility, fare structure, past experiences from service providers and their assessment of what is possible to be delivered. While, Level-of-Service (LOS) is a general measure to determine good, poor and acceptable service levels for various service attributes of public transport based on user perception, there is a further need to determine the minimum and maximum tolerance level of users i.e., the zone of tolerance (ZOT) and the percentage of users satisfied at different service levels which is defined here as ‘user satisfaction level (USL)’ for different service attributes at the route or corridor level to determine commuters’ needs and preferences for that particular route/corridor which may differ significantly from other routes/corridors within the city. In addition, to ZOT and USL, it is also equally important to identify the critical service areas which need immediate improvement based on commuter preference. The present research proposes a framework to determine commuter preference for different service attributes of existing bus routes along a major corridor which could help in designing service levels for a proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor.