Investigating the role of attitude toward transit safety on the effectiveness of transportation demand management measures: A Tehran case study

Tehran as a mega-city in a developing country is faced with high traffic congestion and air pollution. The transit systems development is suggested as a way to cope with the mentioned problems. This study investigates the impacts of transit features (i.e., transit safety, transit travel time, and access time to transit stations) on switching car commuters to use this mode. In this regard, a stated preference survey was carried out in the Central Business District (CBD) of Tehran, Iran. A Hybrid Choice Model (HCM) was used to capture the effects of Attitude Toward Transit Safety (ATTS) on Public Transit (PT) choice. Results of the survey including 366 participants confirm that when commuters have a more negative ATTS, they are less likely to choose PT and, therefore, it is more difficult to encourage them to use PT mode by Transportation Demand Management measures such as reducing travel time or PT access time. The results demonstrate that concerns about transit safety issues are more pronounced in males, people who travel longer commuting distances, and married people. Furthermore, the reduction of access time to transit stations significantly enhances PT usage.