Valuation of quality of service in public transport

The aim of the study has been to determine the prerequisites for the evaluation of the quality of service in public services, to provide directions for the preparation of guidance and to determine the central needs for further research on the valuation coefficients. Amongst the quality factors, total trip travel time, its components (walking, waiting, in-vehicle) and the number of transfers are the primary candidates for the valuation in the cost-benefit assessment (CBA) as for these there are existing research and clear methodologies. The most natural way to evaluate these factors is through the value of time by giving weights for different components. Total trip travel time and other factors need to be kept separated in the calculation. This study has shown a concrete way to handle them in the CBA. Other quantitative quality factors are the number of services in a day, accuracy of scheduling and available space. It is possible to evaluate these factors, but the lack of available research makes the determination of the coefficients difficult. The value of headways in rural services and the waiting times of demand-responsive public transport were consideredto be the central research themes in the future. For now, it is not possible to evaluate most of the pure quality factors in the CBA. The supply and timing of services, quality, additional services and quality of service provision are suggested to be determined through willingness-to-pay studies. Common guidelines was suggested to be developed for the valuation of the quality of service, where clear guidance would be provided concerning the rules and concrete parameters that can be adjusted when more research and methodologies are available. The guidance concerning the valuation was seen to be practical amongst the more general guidelines concerning the evaluation of public transport. When transport models are estimated, more attention should be paid to the compatibility of the values between different sub-models. These values should also be in line with the coefficients (e.g. value of time) used in the cost-benefit assessment. This report may be found at http://www.mintc.fi/oliver/upl302-Julkaisuja%2036_2006.pdf