Commuting to College: An Analysis of a Suburban Campus on the Outskirts of Madrid

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse human mobility in a university campus on the outskirts of the Madrid region. Several surveys which were distributed to students for completion during the 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2021-2022 courses were examined. Both an exploration of existing transport modes using clustering techniques and a statistical analysis on trip origins, travel times, and distances were performed. Not all municipalities with the highest number of trips were the closest to the university. The clustering analysis identified a lower variability in the use ratio of the transport modes in the 2017-2018 course. The private car, which exhibited a low sharing rate, was the most utilised transport mode. This was followed by public and university transportation. Similarities between the probability distributions of journeys using public and university transports were found. High and moderate correlations between the number of the existing stops and the amount of trips by subway and urban bus were detected. The lowest median values of travel distances corresponded to students, administrative staff, teachers, and researchers who exhibited very similar values. Considering the three analysed academic years as a whole, the most likely travel times were 30–60 minutes. It was detected that a higher gross annual income did not imply higher private car use. Residents in areas with the highest ozone concentrations also exhibited a high use of motorised vehicles. A low familiarisation with car-sharing and car-pooling platforms was also found. Globally, a high level of comfort during the trip was mostly perceived.