Analysing travel behaviour of Public transport users through Structural equation modeling

Abstract

Increasing the mode share of public transport has become prominent for cities in India with rising issues faced due to rapid urbanisation. Escalating traffic congestion due to the use of private vehicles arises the need for the shift of private vehicle users to public transport. An efficient public transport system is an ongoing need of a city for the unhindered mobility of its commuters. In order to improve the public transport patronage, commuter’s attitude and behavioural attributes are needed to be considered for understanding their preference of mode along with the demographic, socio economic characteristics and attributes of the mode. Individual attitudes and perceptions about various modes of transportation clearly differ due to socioeconomic condition and inherent qualities of transportation modes that cannot be directly measured or observed. The conventional mode choice studies rely on the socio demographic factors of the commuters but it is equally rather more necessary to include the attitude and perception towards the mode for predicting the mode choice decisions. Therefore, in addition to conventional variables, the choice of transportation mode is influenced by unobservable/ latent variables. Thus, latent variables should be included in the model to capture the subjective factor's impact on mode selection which is aimed to be done through Structural equation modelling. From the past studies it is also evident that the travel behaviour is better explained with SEM compared to traditional methods of Mode choice models. There is a need for better assessment of the mode choice decisions as it helps in resolving issues such as estimating demand for various modes of transportation, reducing traffic congestion, allocating resources, analysing the overall efficiency of travel, and providing insight into traveller behaviour attribute Mode choice models are crucial in determining a city's travel demand. This study aims to enhance the existing public transport system in the study area focusing on improving the public transit patronage by retaining the existing ridership and further improving it. The parameters/indicators of travel behaviour required for shaping an efficient public transportation system and the characteristics of existing public transportation system operating in the city are studied. The case of city Bus-based public transit system of Visakhapatnam is considered for the study. Revealed preference survey is performed at the major bus depots of Visakhapatnam. A total of 182 samples are collected with demographic, socio-economic characteristics, trip attributes, and user preference w.r.t satisfaction, Quality of service, Attitude towards PT. The structure of the relationship between these travel behaviour variables is established using Descriptive analysis and Factor analysis. The significant factors are identified from it which are influencing the bus commuters’ behaviour and are modeled using Structure Equation Modelling approach. The major latent variables are identified and recommended which are affecting the bus users’ travel behaviour.