Comfort of passengers in vehicles in urban mass passenger transport for one of Belgrade's suburbs

Abstract

Urban mass passenger transport (UMTP) is less attractive when passengers must stand for long period of time, especially when transport vehicles are highly crowded. Crowded vehicles also slow down transport operations, as it takes more time for passengers to get on and off. From the passenger point of view, the number of passengers on a transit unit (vehicle) at a specified point of line reflect the comfort level of the on-board vehicle portion of a transit trip. This refers to the possibility to find a seat and in overall crowding levels within the vehicle. From a transport operator point of view, a poor level of service may indicate the need to increase service frequency or vehicle size in order to reduce crowding and provide a more comfortable ride for passengers. The level of service, for one of Belgrade's suburb, in terms of comfort in vehicles, will be analyzed in this paper. For these reasons, three bus lines of public transport which serve the mentioned suburb are discussed and examined (one diametrical, one radial and one peripheral bus line). Passenger flows on these three bus lines are investigated in the peak time periods when vehicles work on the line.