Passengers’ perception towards socioeconomic benefits of Addis Ababa light rail transit

Abstract

Although there are several objective measurements of the socioeconomic benefits of public transportation, the subjective evaluation of ‘service benefits’ is equally important, especially for cities with large populations that are dependent on public transportation. Addis Ababa launched the first Light Rail Transit (LRT) to overcome the transportation challenges the city has been facing such as congestion, shortage of public transportation service and environmental pollution. The LRT was, thus, designed to offer residents with the viable option of mobility and provide increased comfort, efficiency and attractiveness of the overall public transportation system. It is believed that the system has substantially contributed to the alleviation of the acute transportation shortages along transit corridors. However, service benefits are not scientifically measured from the views of the users. Hence, the aim of this study is to understand riders’ perception toward the service benefits of the LRT using eight socioeconomic attributes. Ordered logit model analysis was employed to examine the influencing predictors affecting passengers’ perceptions toward the socioeconomic benefits. The results showed that Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (AALRT) is providing benefits related to reducing travel distance, travel cost, and traffic problems, and these perceived benefits are varying as the passengers’ demographic and socioeconomic characteristics vary. Improvement of the overall service with consideration of passengers’ socio-economical segmentation strategy can lead the city to develop a system that increases benefits of the rail transport service for its residents and helps to reach its goal of sustaining existing users and appealing to new passengers.