Identification of key determinants of travel satisfaction for developing policy instrument to improve quality of life: An analysis of commuting in Delhi

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2021

Subject Area

place - asia, place - urban, ridership - commuting, ridership - perceptions, ridership - mode choice, planning - personal safety/crime, planning - surveys, planning - service improvement, planning - methods, planning - service quality, land use - impacts, policy - congestion

Keywords

Trip-satisfaction, Daily travel satisfaction, Work trip satisfaction, Other than work trip satisfaction, Ordered logit model, Built environment, Quality of life

Abstract

Commuting between an origin and destination pair is one of the most critical components of an individual's daily activity, and the associated trip satisfaction significantly influences a commuter's well-being. Owing to negative externalities associated with urban travel such as increased congestion, poor roadway infrastructure, inadequate and unreliable public transport system, safety and security concerns, a reduction in perceived trip satisfaction could be observed among Indian commuters. Thus, it is prudent to analyze commuters' perception towards associated trip satisfaction and related components for formulating policy instruments to improve commuters' experience. This paper identified the key determinants of perceived satisfaction related to different types of trips in the Indian capital New Delhi. A Travel survey questionnaire was designed to elicit commuters' perceived satisfaction associated with daily, work, and non-work trips. Based on 898 responses, a set of ordered logit models were estimated. It was found that socio-demographic factors such as gender and age, accessibility and built-environment characteristics such as streets' level of congestion, availability and existing condition of sidewalks, bus stop safety, and security were significant determinants of commuters' trip satisfaction. Results also indicated that the choice of mode and associated safety perception played a vital role in commuters' trip satisfaction levels. Public transport users were less satisfied compared to the car commuters for both work and non-work trips. Based on the findings, a set of policy measures such as illumination of roadways, reduction in street-congestion levels, up keeping existing sidewalks, improving public transportation accessibility, etc. could be implemented for enhancing the trip-satisfaction level of urban commuters belonging to a typical metropolitan city of a developing country like India.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

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http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0967070X

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