Effects of accessibility to the transit stations on intercity travel mode choices in contexts of high speed rail in the Windsor–Quebec corridor in Canada

Abstract

Main objective of this paper is investigating the role of transit station accessibility on intercity travel mode choices in contexts of a proposed High Speed Rail. The study area is the Quebec–Windsor corridor, which is the most important corridor in Canada and one of the most important corridors in North America. A web-based joint revealed preference – stated preference survey is used to collect data for empirical investigation. To contribute further to travel survey methods, an innovative social media based data collection approach is taken. As opposed to explicit sample frame-based sample selection approach, it applies a reverse procedure of open sample frame-based data collection. The web-based survey is spread through social media groups (that are open in sense that information of all individuals are not known explicitly) and the collected responses are screened to match with population distributions. Results prove the potential of such data collection approach in extracting representative samples of the population of concern. The collected dataset, which has close representation of the population, is used to estimate discrete mode choice model (Nested Logit model) of intercity mode choices. Empirical model reveals that intercity travellers are more concerned about access to and egress from transit stations than the main in-vehicle travel while selecting intercity travel modes. The result of this investigate imply that transit station accessibility should be given careful consideration for the success of any innovative travel mode, e.g., high speed rail.