PUBLIC TRANSPORT USERS' PREFERENCES AND WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR A PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION MOBILE APP IN MADRID

Abstract

Today, smart cities are presented as a solution to achieve a more sustainable urban development while increasing the quality of life of its citizens through the use of new technologies (Neirotti, 2013). Smart Mobility is based on innovative and sustainable ways to provide transport for the inhabitants of cities, enhancing the use of fuels or vehicle propulsion systems that respect the environment, supported by technological tools and a proactive behaviour of citizenship (Neirotti, 2013). In urban mobility, the purpose of the Smart Cities is to develop flexible systems for real-time information to support decision-making in the use and management of different transport modes, generating a positive impact, saving users time and improving efficiency and quality of service. In this context, several solution types are being introduced in the world’s cities. They enable the improvement of the abovementioned factors acting on the demand side resulting in more efficient journeys for individual travelers, and improved satisfaction with the service. (Skelley et Al., 2013) with a lower level of investment than that of infrastructure deployment or an increase in the level of service. One of the most extended solutions is the use of mobile apps for providing the user with contextualized -static and real time- transport information. The study is based on a survey carried out among users of public transport in Madrid under the European OPTICITES project of the 7th Research Framework Programme. The survey contained items on their transportation habits, their level of skills and technological capabilities, and their main expectations about the possibility of using a new application, the main desired capabilities and willingness to pay for use. The study results show the preferences of users of public transport capacity, static, real-time search and in-app services for a multimodal real-time application and willingness to pay for this service, all analyzed by different Slicers users. The results also establish the basis for an estimate of the usefulness of these applications for users of public transport. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2016.3498