Effects of mixed traffic and elderly passengers on city bus drivers’ work-related fatigue

Abstract

City bus drivers are facing increasingly stressful work situations. In urban areas, bus drivers are competing for limited road space with various vehicles in mixed traffic conditions. This mixed traffic flow condition may not only cause traffic congestion problems but also increase the driving fatigue of a city bus driver. In addition, the average number of elderly passengers are increasing. Constrained by their physical conditions, elderly passengers usually take more time to get on or off a bus and require a city bus driver’s special attention or help. An increase in elderly passengers using city buses may increase the bus driver’s stress and/or fatigue levels. This study developed a structural equation model to investigate the causal relationships between a vector of stress factors and city bus drivers’ fatigue levels from a risk management perspective. The empirical study results based on a questionnaire survey indicated that mixed traffic flow conditions and the characteristics of elderly passengers are positively correlated with the levels of driving fatigue in city bus drivers. An increase in the number of motor scooters in a traffic stream and/or elderly passengers on a bus will lead to higher levels of mental fatigue for a city bus driver. This study discussed the effects of several stressors on a city bus driver’s fatigue and provided suggestions for changes in policies to ensure the fatigue mitigation of city bus drivers.