Analysis of Transit Users’ Response Behavior in Case of Unplanned Service Disruptions

Abstract

Public transit disruption is becoming more common across different transit services, and can have a destructive influence on the resiliency of the transportation system. Even though transit agencies have various strategies to mitigate the probability of failure in the transit system by conducting preventative actions, some disruptions cannot be avoided because of their either unpredictable or uncontrollable nature. Utilizing recently collected data of transit users in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, the current study aims to analyze how transit users respond to an unplanned service disruption and disclose the factors that affect their behavior. In this study, a random parameter multinomial logit model is employed to consider heterogeneity across observations as well as panel effects. The results of the analysis reveal that a wide range of factors including socio-demographic attributes, personal attitudes, trip-related information, and built environment are significant in passengers’ behavior in case of unplanned transit disruptions. Moreover, the effect of service recovery time on passengers is not the same among all types of disrupted services; rail users are more sensitive to the recovery time as compared with bus users. The findings of this study provide insights for transportation authorities to improve the transit service quality in relation to user satisfaction and transportation resilience. These insights help transit agencies to implement effective recovery strategies.