Obstacles, Social Norms and Communication to Improve Service in Mass Transport. An Analysis in Bogotá’s Bus Rapid Transit System

Abstract

Overcrowding during bus boarding contributes to delays in service waiting times due to extended boarding times. Boarding times at TransMilenio stations have increased due to the daily demographic growth in Bogota. Despite being a global reference in mobility, its users perceive TransMilenio negatively. This study proposes a passenger dynamic to reduce boarding times on TransMilenio articulated buses by implementing obstacles and learning by rules. The dynamic aimed to improve organization on boarding platforms, facilitate access for people with disabilities, optimize space utilization, and positively influence user perception. The dynamic was validated through (a) a mixed method research phase, in which users’ behavioral variables were identified during bus boarding using a nested concurrent design with a dominant model (DIAC in Spanish) to establish appropriate rule-based learning messages, (b) an agent-based simulation to select the obstacle that most effectively reduced boarding times for articulated buses, (c) a full factorial experimental model to determine the effects of rule-based learning, the selected obstacle, and their interaction on boarding times at Platform One of Portal Suba, and (d) a final phase measuring the experimental model's impact on users’ perception. The study's results indicate that the passenger dynamic, which included delivering a descriptive message and a queue obstacle, reduced boarding times by 24.58%.