Cited by 154Transportation Planning and OptimizationTransportation and Mobility InnovationsUrban Transport Systems Analysis

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 6 of the 8 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 2 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Passenger Wait Time Perceptions at Bus Stops: Empirical Results and Impact on Evaluating Real - Time Bus Arrival Information

Open access
Mishalani, Rabi, McCord, Mark, Wirtz, John·2006·Journal of Public Transportation

Abstract

This study quantifies the relationship between perceived and actual waiting times experienced by passengers awaiting the arrival of a bus at a bus stop. Understanding such a relationship would be useful in quantifying the value of providing realtime information to passengers on the time until the next bus is expected to arrive at a bus stop. Data on perceived and actual passenger waiting times, along with socioeconomic characteristics, were collected at bus stops where no real-time bus arrival information is provided, and relationships between perceived and actual waiting times are estimated. The results indicate that passengers do perceive time to be greater than the actual amount of time waited. However, the hypothesis that the rate of change of perceived time does not vary with respect to the actual waiting time could not be rejected (over a range of 3 to 15 minutes). Assuming that a passenger’s perceived waiting time is equal to the actual time when presented with accurate real-time bus arrival information, the value of the eliminated additional time is assessed in the form of reduced vehicle hours per day resulting from a longer headway that produces the same mean passenger waiting time. The eliminated additional time is also assessed in the form of uncertainty in the headway resulting in the same extra waiting time. Naturally, such benefits of passenger information can only be confirmed when the actual effect of information on the perception of waiting time is quantified.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This pilot study quantifies how bus passengers’ perceived waiting times differ from actual waiting times when no real-time arrival information is provided. It finds that passengers overestimate waiting time by 0.84 minutes on average, and translates that overestimate into potential operating and service-quality benefits of real-time information.

Key findings

  • Passengers perceived waiting time as greater than actual: mean perceived waiting time was 6.6 minutes versus mean actual waiting time of 5.77 minutes, a difference of 0.84 minutes.
  • In an OLS model with 83 observations, perceived waiting time increased with actual waiting time, but the slope was not statistically different from 1; the intercept was significantly greater than 0, and a joint test rejected perceived time equaling actual time. The data did not show that the additional perceived time varied with actual waiting time over the 3-to-15-minute range.
  • In a model adding socioeconomic variables, walking time to the destination and presence of a time constraint had explanatory value: longer walking time was associated with greater exaggeration of perceived waiting time, while a time constraint brought perceived waiting time closer to actual time. Other socioeconomic variables were not significant at the 0.05 level.
  • Eliminating the 0.84-minute overestimate via real-time information was equivalent to a reduction of 7.77 vehicle-hours per day, or a 4.4% saving, for a route with 30-minute running time, 10-minute headway, and 8 hours of weekday service. For a 10-minute headway, the equivalent headway coefficient of variation was 0.40, corresponding to a headway standard deviation of 4.0 minutes.

Methods

  • Three students surveyed 83 passengers waiting for Campus Area Bus Service buses at five stops on three routes over approximately one year, with a response rate close to 100%. Data included perceived waiting time, actual waiting time, and socioeconomic characteristics.
  • The main analysis estimated an OLS regression of perceived waiting time on actual waiting time, tested whether the slope equaled 1 and the intercept equaled 0, and jointly tested perceived time equaling actual time. A second model added walking time to destination and a time-constraint dummy variable.
  • The estimated 0.84-minute mean difference was then converted into equivalent vehicle-hours per day saved and an equivalent headway coefficient of variation, assuming deterministic headways and random passenger arrivals.

Limitations

  • The paper states this was a pilot study on a university campus-based transit system; it calls for larger transit systems, longer routes, more heterogeneous traveling populations, a wider range of actual waiting times, larger data sets, and more complete socioeconomic variables. Some socioeconomic variables had as few as 46 observations because data were not collected for every passenger due to survey time constraints.
  • The paper states that the key assumption—that accurate real-time information makes perceived waiting time equal actual waiting time—requires further validation, ideally through before-and-after surveys.
  • Evident from the text: the sample is small (83 passengers), the observed actual waiting times are limited to 3–15 minutes, and the study does not directly test the effect of real-time information on perceptions.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.5038/2375-0901.9.2.5

Cites

6 of 6 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 2 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 12 claims

  • The quote only partly states this claim. 4
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 4
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 6
11 of 11
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    When accurate real-time bus arrival information is provided, passengers will perceive their waiting time to be equal to the actual waiting time.

    “When accurate bus arrival information is provided, it is assumed that passengers will perceive their waiting time to be equal to the actual waiting time.”
    “it is assumed that real-time passenger information will eliminate exaggerated perceptions of waiting time.”
    “the assumption that such information will produce accurate perceived waiting times.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The headway is deterministic (headway variance is 0) for the vehicle-hours analysis.

    “Assuming that the headway is deterministic (i.e., the headway variance is 0)”
    “assuming a deterministic headway”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Passengers arrive at bus stops in a totally random manner (arrivals follow the Poisson process).

    “passengers arrive in a totally random manner (i.e., arrivals follow the Poisson process)”
    “Assuming that passengers arrive in a totally random manner”
3 of 3

Citations

Cites

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Show all 8 references

2 of the 8 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Wirtz, J. 00. Passenger perceptions of waiting time at bus stops. BS thesis, Ohio State University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science.

Cited by

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Items 101–149 of 149

Metadata

Authors
Mishalani, R., McCord, M., & Wirtz, J.
Affiliations
The Ohio State University (US)
Venue
Journal of Public Transportation
Published
2006-05
Volume
9
Issue
2
Pages
89-106
ISSN
  • 1077-291X (ISSN-L)
  • 2375-0901
OpenAlex
W2022832686
Cited by
154
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 7
FWCI
5.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Public Transportation (publishedVersion)
  • Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Ohio State University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Transportation › Transportation Planning and Optimization
  • Social Sciences › Transportation › Transportation and Mobility Innovations
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Urban Transport Systems Analysis
Keywords
perceived waiting time, bus stops, passenger information, headway, value of information, public transport

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