Modeling Public Transportation Use Among Short-Term Rental Guests in Madrid

Abstract

Urban tourism has experienced significant growth driven by platforms such as Airbnb, yet the relationship between short-term rental (STR) location and guest mobility remains underexplored. In this study, a structured survey of STR guests in Madrid during 2024 was administered face-to-face through property managers and luggage-storage services to examine factors influencing public transport (PT) use. Responses on bus and metro usage were combined into a three-level ordinal variable and modeled using ordered logistic regression against tourist demographics, trip characteristics, and accommodation attributes, including geocoded location zones. The results indicate that first-time and international visitors are less likely to use PT at high levels, while tourists visiting more points of interest and those who rated PT importance highly when choosing accommodation are significantly more frequent users. Accommodation in the central almond or periphery correlates positively with higher PT use compared to the city center. Distances to transit stops were not significant predictors, reflecting overall network accessibility. These findings suggest that enhancing PT connectivity in peripheral areas could support the spatial dispersion of tourism benefits and improve sustainable mobility for STR guests.