This is the fourth episode in the Researching Transit Handbook of Public Transport Research series. Links to obtain the book can be found at the end of the notes.

In this episode, Professor Graham Curries speaks to Professor Ahmed El-Geneidy. El-Geneidy is professor of transport planning at McGill University, and one of the co-authors of Chapter 4 of the Handbook: Transit customer satisfaction research: Is the customer always right?.

Professor El-Geneidy has a prolific publication record that spans transport and land use, cycling and public transport. He explains how mentors have helped him develop the ability to ask the right questions, work efficiently, and collaborate with others. In turn, El-Geneidy explains how he approaches his role as a mentor to research students at the Transportation Research at McGill (TRAM) group, which he leads. 

El-Geneidy discusses some of the forces that are amplifying the impact and reach of public transport research. Two of these are collaboration and data. Recently, researchers around the world pooled their insights about transportation access, including public transport systems, to benchmark accessibility around the world. A paper documenting this research was recently published in Nature’s Urban Sustainability journal. 

The other force they discuss is data. Not only is more public transport data being created, but the methods available for harnessing this data are improving. In Chapter 4 of the Handbook, El-Geneidy and his co-authors Madalena Harreman-Fernandes, Ehab Diab, Boer Cui, James DeWeese, Miles Crumley explore insights about customer satisfaction on buses, using complaints data. Taking a customer-focused approach, the researchers examined complaints made by users of Portland’s Tri-Met bus network. Complaints were classified into themes including customer satisfaction with service quality and critical incidents. The researchers cross-referenced this information with operational data to explore causes and validate complaints. For example, pass-by incidents could be matched with time-stamped operational data and occupancy to identify instances where overcrowding may have prompted stop skipping as the source of pass-by complaints. Such information provides useful insight for operators about the actual causes of customer dissatisfaction. El-Geneidy notes that the potential of data to be put to use in transport planning is only beginning to be realised. New methods of extracting and cleaning the data are key to tapping into its full potential.  

Find out more about today’s show in Chapter 4 of the Handbook of Public Transport Research - Transit Customer satisfaction research: Is the customer always right? The Handbook is available for purchase from the publisher’s website:  https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-of-public-transport-research-9781788978651.html.

Learn more about Professor El Geneidy and Transportation Research at McGill (TRAM)
https://www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning/people-0/el-geneidy
http://tram.mcgill.ca/index.html 
 
Read about access around the world in the recently published academic paper:
Wu, H., Avner, P., Boisjoly, G., Braga, C.K.V., El-Geneidy, A., Huang, J., Kerzhner, T., Murphy, B., Niedzielski, M.A., Pereira, R.H.M., Pritchard, J.P., Stewart, A., Wang, J., Levinson, D., 2021. Urban access across the globe: an international comparison of different transport modes. npj Urban Sustainability 1, 16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-021-00020-2
 
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Music from this episode is from https://www.purple-planet.com

RT28 – Ahmed El-Geneidy – Customer Satisfaction Research Innovations

We talk to Mort Downey, Washington Metro board member, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation and leader of President Obama's review of transport, about the current state of urban transport development in the United States of America.

LR Podcast #1: Talking Urban Transport in the USA with Mort Downey

1500 electric school buses in Virginia will power the grid when parked, in the first US commercial application of vehicle to grid technology. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

School Bus Plus

Dr Lorelei Schmitt now works as Principal Multimodal Advisor at Waka Kotahi, Māori for ‘travelling together as one’(1), and the name of the  New Zealand Transport Agency. In today’s show, Lorelei discusses the importance of first impressions on public transport and the collaborative ways NZTA is building the agency’s capability to integrate different modes of transport.

Lorelei completed a PhD as a member of the Public Transport Research Group. Her research focused on unfamiliar travel, among new users, visitors or users changing routes or modes in public transport networks. Leveraging her psychology training, Lorelei explored the ways in which unfamiliar trips differ from familiar trips. Unfamiliar travel has a primacy effect, conjuring more vivid recollections than for habitual trips. The way people perceive a network is important for shaping future behaviours. Visitors also form opinions about cities based on their unfamiliar journeys. In addition, new users have a higher cognitive load. She highlights the importance of providing clear signage and real-time information, since not all travellers have access to smart devices. Interventions can be targeted around locations or times when unfamiliar journeys often occur, such as sporting events or university semesters to ensure new users have a positive and efficient experience. 

As a multi-modal planner in New Zealand, Lorelei’s responsibilities include developing national public transport design guidelines collaboratively with local and regional agencies who deliver transit. The first iteration of the Public Transport Design Guidelines (2) provides advice on public transport infrastructure, including bus stop design and corridor clearance. They are designed to promote national consistency in the delivery of public transport, tailored to the New Zealand regulatory environment. Developing a tool that is useful for a wide range of stakeholders with different expertise was an unexpectedly complicated process. 

 “Trying to get solutions that are really passenger-centric, user-friendly, but also meet all the different requirements of different transport planners of different modes hasn’t been a simple exercise”

Multi-modal integration inherently complicates the transport planning process. A key challenge is enabling people to realise that what’s good for one mode isn’t necessarily best for the system as a whole. Much of the formal training for transport planning has a vehicle throughput focus. In the interest of achieving better multi-modal integration, Lorelei’s team explored the project funding and delivery Lifecyle to identify key stakeholders pivotal in shaping projects. Training modules developed by Waka Kotahi is provided to these stakeholders to lift the multimodal capability and unlock multimodal potential of projects.  

One key area that has benefited from collaboration between planners with different modal expertise is that of safety. Interestingly, Lorelei’s multi-modal responsibilities extend to that of Te Araroa, a 3000km walking trail that runs the length of New Zealand (3). Working with the road engineers improved the safety outcome for walkers at an intersection where Te Araroa crossed a major highway. Lorelei stresses the need for empathy, patience and collaboration when challenging status quo for modes. Multi-modal planning also fosters consideration of a wider range of access and mobility needs across the community. The process of collaborative planning therefore allows for accessibility to be provided more equitably.

Visit our website for the full notes from today's show.

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Music from this episode is from https://www.purple-planet.com

Researching Transit

RT16 - Dr Lorelei Schmitt - First trips and multi-modal integration matter

Most humans now live in growing cities where increasing traffic congestion risks liveability, the environment and economic productivity.  Public transport is now widely seen a solution for mega-city growth due to its social, economic and mass travel efficiency.  However the industry faces significant challenges.  Infrastructure, systems and even thinking in the industry is old and out of date.  Policy and regulatory structures are ‘path dependent’ on historical approaches and lack progressive thinking.  There is a global need to revitalise  public transport with new knowledge and thinking to build a progressive future for the industry.

Researching Transit introduces listeners to the latest thinking in global public transit research.  It aims to engage the industry, researchers and the wider community in shared learnings about the latest innovations in public transport research providing a platform for research communication.    Professor Graham Currie and Laura Aston talk to some of the world's leading researchers in a podcast series brought to you by the Monash University Public Transport Research Group.

RT28 – Ahmed El-Geneidy – Customer Satisfaction Research Innovations

Researching Transit

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