An evaluation of on-demand transit user and interested-non-user characteristics and the factors that attract the transit-curious to using on-demand transit

Abstract

With the advent of new mobility modes and technologies, we have seen meaningful changes in travel behavior. One such new mobility mode is on-demand transit. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority deployed its own on-demand transit system, dubbed MARTA Reach, in March of 2022. This paper provides an evaluation of the characteristics of two groups of people related to MARTA Reach: those who were interested in it and used it and those who were interested in it but did not use it. In addition, this paper explores the factors that influence membership in each of those two groups using a binary logit model, revealing the underlying characteristics that are linked with the decision to use or not use the service given prior interest. The findings show that simply providing more service has the strongest effect on adoption. Among 561 survey respondents, 426 expressed that the service area for MARTA Reach was too limited for their needs. Modeling results support this finding, in addition to the following strong predictors of on-demand transit adoption: 1) being a frequent transit user, 2) being satisfied with the current state of fixed-route transit service, 3) being part of a low-income household, 4) living within an on-demand transit service area, and 5) being younger. Understanding these group characteristics and underlying factors can help guide future efforts to provide on-demand transit service, such as by targeting the market segments that share features with the underlying factors that are shown herein to be linked with on-demand transit adoption.