Passengers' Waiting Behavior at Bus and Tram Stops

Providing better environment in bus/tram stops where passengers can wait for bus/tram comfortably is an important factor for reducing disutility of out-of-vehicle travel time by bus/tram and promoting public transport use in multi-modal transportation planning. In this context, possibility of engaging in a variety of activities while waiting for bus/tram could contribute to reducing disutility of waiting time. This paper investigated what kind of activities passengers were engaging in while waiting for the bus/tram at various bus/tram stops. Analysis of data obtained from on-site observation and questionnaire surveys revealed that more passengers were engaging in activities as waiting time increased and there was difference in activity engagement between ages. Irritation levels of waiting at bus/tram stops were affected by the length of waiting time, the use of benches, passengers' socioeconomic characteristics, and trip attributes. Usefulness of the bus departure time information system and problems in non-guarded tram stops were also discussed.