Public Transport Accessibility and Its Effect on Mode Choice

Abstract

The relationship between the service of public transport (PT) and its use is complex but can be simplified through the use of indicators. These indicators should be able to accurately reflect PT use so that improvements in the indicators lead to increases in PT use. Although researchers and planners use similar indicators to describe the access of PT stops, the indicators used to assess the accessibility of destinations differ. Researchers use specific location-based methods to analyze accessibility to spatially dispersed destinations, while practitioners often focus on connectivity to central (business) districts. This raises the question of which approach better reflects the use of PT. By combining the German National Household Travel Survey with nationwide timetable data, we examine the relationship between PT use and two indicators of PT service: (1) travel time to the nearest central district and (2) cumulative opportunity accessibility, both calculated as the ratio of PT to car travel. The results of our binary logit models indicate that the travel time ratio does not have a relevant influence on the choice of motorized transport mode, but the accessibility ratio does. Therefore, we suggest that practitioners should use location-based accessibility methods such as the cumulative opportunity ratio to evaluate and improve PT service planning.

Keywords

• public transit
• location-based accessibility
• connectivity to central business districts
• cumulative opportunity
• mode choice
• binary logit model