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The role of the travel factor convenience in rail travel and a framework for its assessment

The role of the travel factor convenience in rail travel and a framework for its assessment
The role of the travel factor convenience in rail travel and a framework for its assessment
This paper reviews the travel factor convenience with particular regard to rail travel. Past research has shown that convenience is a concept readily associated with the private car and its perceived ability to provide a door-to-door journey. However, convenience in public transport has proved to be somewhat of an ambiguous concept, often showing a high degree of overlap with the other main recognised travel factors. This paper shows that it is possible to consider convenience in rail travel as an embodiment of four themes: Access/egress, station facilities/environment, frequency of service/scheduling and interchange between train services. A list of physically measurable elements has been produced relating to these four themes in order to assess the convenience of any particular station. A categorisation process is proposed, based upon the initial findings of a substantial questionnaire process designed to obtain a user perspective upon convenience. It is concluded that no definitive measure of convenience can be produced for rail travel, although a proxy measure, based upon categorisation, containing some or all of the defined elements should be possible.
0144-1647
535-555
Crockett, Jonathan
9878cd6b-c8ee-4485-bd97-c30f65aa6830
Hounsell, Nick
54781702-9b09-4fb7-8d9e-f0b7833731e5
Crockett, Jonathan
9878cd6b-c8ee-4485-bd97-c30f65aa6830
Hounsell, Nick
54781702-9b09-4fb7-8d9e-f0b7833731e5

Crockett, Jonathan and Hounsell, Nick (2005) The role of the travel factor convenience in rail travel and a framework for its assessment. Transport Reviews, 25 (5), 535-555. (doi:10.1080/01441640500064389).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper reviews the travel factor convenience with particular regard to rail travel. Past research has shown that convenience is a concept readily associated with the private car and its perceived ability to provide a door-to-door journey. However, convenience in public transport has proved to be somewhat of an ambiguous concept, often showing a high degree of overlap with the other main recognised travel factors. This paper shows that it is possible to consider convenience in rail travel as an embodiment of four themes: Access/egress, station facilities/environment, frequency of service/scheduling and interchange between train services. A list of physically measurable elements has been produced relating to these four themes in order to assess the convenience of any particular station. A categorisation process is proposed, based upon the initial findings of a substantial questionnaire process designed to obtain a user perspective upon convenience. It is concluded that no definitive measure of convenience can be produced for rail travel, although a proxy measure, based upon categorisation, containing some or all of the defined elements should be possible.

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Published date: 2005

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 39465
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/39465
ISSN: 0144-1647
PURE UUID: 09e51455-bfcb-4e7a-a62b-405056b0e8eb

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Date deposited: 28 Jun 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 08:14

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Contributors

Author: Jonathan Crockett
Author: Nick Hounsell

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