Analysing passenger arrivals rates and waiting time at bus stops

Abstract

The present study investigates the rather under-explored topic of passenger waiting times at public transport facilities. Using data collected from part of London’s bus network by means of physical counts, measurements and observations, and complemented by on-site passenger interviews, the waiting behaviour is analysed for a number of bus stops served by different numbers of lines. The analysis employs a wide range of statistical methods and tools, and concentrates on three aspects: passenger interarrival time, passenger actual waiting time, and passenger perceived waiting time. The results suggest that there is a clear difference in terms of the passenger arrivals rate between stops served by up to two lines and stops served by three lines or more, as it appears that passengers in the former time their arrival at the stop to coincide with bus arrivals as much as possible. Also, it is found that waiting time at such stops is best approximated by the exponential distribution, with the gamma distribution also offering an adequate fit. Finally, as concerns the passengers’ perception of waiting time, it is found that this follows a lognormal or a gamma distribution, and generally overestimates the actual waiting time; however, this effect fades as the actual waiting time increases.

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ORCID for I. Kaparias: orcid.org/0000-0002-8857-1865

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