Commuters' satisfaction with public transport

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that people's satisfaction with their commute can have an impact on their subjective well-being and general quality of life. Public transport users tend to be less happy with their commute than pedestrians, cyclists and car users. A relevant question then is what explains the low satisfaction among public transport users, and what can be done to make public transport commuting more satisfying. Methods: This study measures commuters' satisfaction with their last trip to work, to investigate how different public transport journey characteristics affect commute satisfaction. Characteristics included in the analysis are distance to public transport stations, whether commuters have to transfer modes along the way and waiting time while transferring. The study is based on a comprehensive travel survey in Oslo, Norway (N = 7.630). Results: Findings indicate that efficient transport routes with short waiting time and reliable time use are more important than short distance to stations and direct routes. However, these characteristics have a stronger effect on satisfaction among people with long commutes. Conclusion: The findings in this study are useful for policy makers planning public transport services. Both to make the service more satisfying for the current users, and also in order to make public transport an attractive alternative to car use.