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

In this episode, Professor Graham Currie speaks to Margareta Friman and Maria Borjesson, two of the authors of Chapter 20 of the Handbook: Large increases in bus use in Sweden: lessons learned. Margareta Friman works at Karlstad University where she is Pro-vice Chancellor, as well as Professor of Psychology and member of the Service and Market Oriented Transport (SAMOT) Research Group. Maria Borjesson is Professor of Economics and a researcher at VTI – The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute and Likoping University. 

Professor Friman talks about the three areas of focus for public transport research at SAMOT: travel behaviour, travel experiences, and perceived accessibility. One of SAMOT’s strengths is pairing psychology and business perspectives to provide insights about the motivations for public transport mode shift. Their research has also elevated the role of the user, not just gaining insights about their travel experiences, but also giving a user focus to contracting and service design. Their perceived accessibility research aims to understand the extent to which users feel they can undertake the travel they want. SAMOT’s ongoing passenger experience research unveiled a shift in the relative importance of ‘stress’ during COVID-19, with its relative importance increasing. 

Professor Friman is joined by Professor Maria Borjesson to discuss the lessons learned from Sweden’s major bus network expansion, the focus of Chapter 20 of the Handbook. In recent years, Sweden enjoyed a 50% increase in bus use. How did they achieve this? The country increased the supply of bus services dramatically. Yet despite this expansion, operating costs increased per unit of travel. They attribute this to the bespoke, and not necessarily supply-driven, nature of the revamped network. Increased operating costs have driven up the ticket price of transport dramatically, which has in turn created an equity issue for pre-existing users of public transport. Finally, Sweden has not seen a reduction in car use. This demonstrates the need to understand if bus use can really reduce car travel; a major motivation for Sweden’s investment in the bus network. 

Find out more about this research in Chapter 20 of the Handbook of Public Transport Research, co-authored by today’s guests as well as Masoud Fadei, 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 the people and projects in today’s show:
Professor Margareta Friman https://www.kau.se/en/researchers/margareta-friman 
Service and Market Oriented Transport (SAMOT) Research Group - https://www.kau.se/en/ctf/research/ctf-research/research-projects/samot-service-and-market-oriented-transport-research
Professor Maria Borjesson: https://www.vti.se/en/employees/maria-bratt-borjesson
VTI; Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute: https://www.vti.se/en

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

RT27 – Margareta Friman and Maria Borjesson – The Swedish Bus Ridership Revolution

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.

RT27 – Margareta Friman and Maria Borjesson – The Swedish Bus Ridership Revolution

Researching Transit

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