Measuring access distance and geographic catchment areas for the bus rapid transit interchange from a longitudinal survey

Abstract

Many developed countries have adopted the 400 m (0.25 mile) and 800 m (0.5 mile) distances, respectively, as planning goals (walking) for bus and rail transit stop catchment areas. Planners, transit agencies and researchers use these transit catchment area criteria to prescribe regulations or formulate policies. Even though these distances may vary depending on the location and study purpose, they are good starting points for developing transit-related policies. However, no standards exist for gauging high-frequency bus or rail interchange geographic catchment areas where many car ‘(‘park-and-ride) users and feeder bus users board the transit. A case study of the bus rapid transit interchange on the Adelaide O-Bahn BRT was used to define the geographic catchment areas. This study surveyed bus rapid transit interchange users over three years (2019, 2020 and 2021) and reported key findings relating to the catchment area and feeder bus proximity issues. Responses highlighted two intriguing findings. First, park-and-ride users and feeder bus users travel significant distances to reach bus rapid transit interchanges when compared with traditional transit stop users who access transit buses and rail on foot, i.e., longitudinal data analysis showed that ‘park-and-'ride’ users travelled as far as 3.7 km to reach the interchange and the feeder bus catchment area ranged from 3.8 to 4.0 km. Second, providing feeder bus route coverage alone cannot increase the patronage levels for connecting the interchange. Although the catchment area extent did not change over these years, the similarity location analysis demonstrated a 30 % difference in the ‘origin-'destination’ pattern change during the pandemic. This research is significant since no previous longitudinal studies have determined the ‘origin-destination’ pattern for accessing a PT interchange.