Investigation of taxi travel time characteristics

Taxis are a very important mode of transport particularly in larger urban areas. Despite the significant research that has gone into this mode, the literature has not investigated taxi travel time, a characteristic of importance particularly for pricing, traffic, and transport mode choice studies. We use data from an extensive revealed preference (RP) travel survey in the Athens, Greece, Metropolitan Area to explore taxi travel times and the factors that influence it. Results indicate that high population density in a user's residence area is related to longer journey durations while off-peak and nighttime journeys last longer than others. Further, elder taxi users, men and non-regular users experience increased travel times. As expected, travelers with low income appear to use taxis for shorter trips.