Analyzing Travel Time Savings On Commuters' Decision To Use Transit Service Involving Transfers

Abstract

Commuters across campus follow travel patterns that involve means of transportation provided on-campus for students. Thus, assessing these patterns gives the opportunity to recognize this specific group of university students. This study investigates the heterogeneity in terms actual and expected travel time across people who differ in terms of gender, age, academic year, and routine by applying the Just Noticeable Difference of Weber's Law. In this study, we conducted a survey among 455 students living and studying on-campus dormitories, namely Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand. Each participant filled in a well-designed survey on Google Forms recording their sociodemographic characteristics, time spent during the trip, and preference for the future trip distribution as they are the primary daily users of the shuttle service. The focus of the research is on-campus transportation, it does not consider external means of transport. The users seek time information: potential delays, waiting time, and when a shuttle is incoming. The result of the analysis of the university commuters' travel patterns shows that the current average travel time is about 25 minutes per trip or greater. However, commuters expect to lower their journey to 20 minutes or less. Mostly, students must wait for the shuttle for more than 10 minutes, extending the trips more than expected. In terms of service, most of the respondents show that the shuttle service provider still does not provide the needed information. Thus, the authors advocate for the EVT service provider to install the tools to provide the needed information regarding waiting time and potential delays.