Decision Tree Analyses of Safety and Comfort Perceptions for Public Transportation in Kalyan-Dombivli Region of Maharashtra

Sie sind hier: Homepage > Suche

Decision Tree Analyses of Safety and Comfort Perceptions for Public Transportation in Kalyan-Dombivli Region of Maharashtra

Jayakumar, Malavika / Maji, Avijit

Urban areas of India have witnessed a massive growth of private automobiles in recent years, mainly attributed to the increased affordability and poor quality of the existing public transport (PT) facilities. Improved PT usage can be achieved if the challenges faced by commuters while using PT are identified and mitigated. This study examines the responses of 4752 commuters through a public opinion survey conducted in the Kalyan-Dombivli region of Maharashtra, India, to highlight the issues. Descriptive analysis revealed that the major concerns faced by the commuters are related to safety and security, comfort, and convenience. Harassment or theft, fear of the spread of COVID-19, rude staff behaviour, rash driving and crowding were the primary concerns. Further analysis showed that commuters’ socio-economic and trip-related characteristics had associations with their concerns. Decision tree analysis revealed that female commuters are more concerned with safety and security, and comfort. Frequent PT commuters and captive PT commuters from low- and middle-income class also had concerns with safety and security, and comfort. PT speed monitoring, improving station accessibility, implementing surveillance systems and panic buttons, enabling GPS, and improving harassment or theft reporting mechanism can improve the perception of safety and security. Adjusting fleet size after further study and revising the operating schedule to increase service frequency can reduce crowding, enhancing the perception of comfort. The findings give a deeper understanding of the challenges in the PT system in a developing economy and provide appropriate directions for improving PT service quality.