Improving demand responsive transit services: Insights from the London field test

The paper discusses the key insights gained from “GoSutton”, a Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) trial in the borough of Sutton in the suburbs of London during 2019–2020. The DRT service expands mobility options for the residents of the service area through the provision of on-demand, curb-to-curb rid...

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Main Authors: Seyedmostafa Zahedi, Haris N. Koutsopoulos, Zhenliang Ma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-01-01
Series:Journal of Public Transportation
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1077291X24000274
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author Seyedmostafa Zahedi
Haris N. Koutsopoulos
Zhenliang Ma
author_facet Seyedmostafa Zahedi
Haris N. Koutsopoulos
Zhenliang Ma
author_sort Seyedmostafa Zahedi
collection DOAJ
description The paper discusses the key insights gained from “GoSutton”, a Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) trial in the borough of Sutton in the suburbs of London during 2019–2020. The DRT service expands mobility options for the residents of the service area through the provision of on-demand, curb-to-curb rides. The main goals of the paper are to: 1) evaluate the performance of the DRT service and provide insight into its operation, 2) analyze the behavior of customers to better understand their purchase decisions and recommend strategies to increase ridership and usage, 3) develop a Level of Service (LOS) model to inform future trials on the interactions between supply, demand, and LOS, as well as identify key factors that impact performance, and 4) evaluate the opportunities to benefit from economies of scale through integrating appropriate paratransit requests and DRT services. The results show potential directions for improvement that can inform future deployments (for example, providing discounts for referrals, new users, providing bundles, and passes). Consolidation of select paratransit and DRT trips can save an average of 8 % on fleet size and 13 % on vehicle-kilometers traveled.
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spelling doaj-art-d1dfc71cca5142bab1afa8e5cb9a2ad02025-08-20T02:36:38ZengElsevierJournal of Public Transportation2375-09012024-01-012610010710.1016/j.jpubtr.2024.100107Improving demand responsive transit services: Insights from the London field testSeyedmostafa Zahedi0Haris N. Koutsopoulos1Zhenliang Ma2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, United StatesDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, United StatesDivision of Transport Planning, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm 11428, Sweden; Correspondence to: Brinellvägen 23, Stockholm 11428, Sweden.The paper discusses the key insights gained from “GoSutton”, a Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) trial in the borough of Sutton in the suburbs of London during 2019–2020. The DRT service expands mobility options for the residents of the service area through the provision of on-demand, curb-to-curb rides. The main goals of the paper are to: 1) evaluate the performance of the DRT service and provide insight into its operation, 2) analyze the behavior of customers to better understand their purchase decisions and recommend strategies to increase ridership and usage, 3) develop a Level of Service (LOS) model to inform future trials on the interactions between supply, demand, and LOS, as well as identify key factors that impact performance, and 4) evaluate the opportunities to benefit from economies of scale through integrating appropriate paratransit requests and DRT services. The results show potential directions for improvement that can inform future deployments (for example, providing discounts for referrals, new users, providing bundles, and passes). Consolidation of select paratransit and DRT trips can save an average of 8 % on fleet size and 13 % on vehicle-kilometers traveled.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1077291X24000274Demand responsive transitCustomer loyalty analysisMobility on demand servicesDemand and supply models
spellingShingle Seyedmostafa Zahedi
Haris N. Koutsopoulos
Zhenliang Ma
Improving demand responsive transit services: Insights from the London field test
Journal of Public Transportation
Demand responsive transit
Customer loyalty analysis
Mobility on demand services
Demand and supply models
title Improving demand responsive transit services: Insights from the London field test
title_full Improving demand responsive transit services: Insights from the London field test
title_fullStr Improving demand responsive transit services: Insights from the London field test
title_full_unstemmed Improving demand responsive transit services: Insights from the London field test
title_short Improving demand responsive transit services: Insights from the London field test
title_sort improving demand responsive transit services insights from the london field test
topic Demand responsive transit
Customer loyalty analysis
Mobility on demand services
Demand and supply models
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1077291X24000274
work_keys_str_mv AT seyedmostafazahedi improvingdemandresponsivetransitservicesinsightsfromthelondonfieldtest
AT harisnkoutsopoulos improvingdemandresponsivetransitservicesinsightsfromthelondonfieldtest
AT zhenliangma improvingdemandresponsivetransitservicesinsightsfromthelondonfieldtest