Press releases

More PostBus services attract more passengers

Commissioned by PostBus Switzerland, the EPFL Transportation Centre (TraCE) Ltd has analysed data regarding the number of passengers using PostBus services. Results show that an increase in the number of PostBus services leads to an above-average increase in passenger numbers.

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In 2009, PostBus launched a huge research project concerning combined mobility and public transport in association with the EPFL Transportation Centre. The study, which is financed by Swiss Post’s innovation fund, provides important information for the further development of the PostBus service offering. Researchers from three affiliated laboratories (CEAT, LASUR and TRANSP-OR) analysed the automatic passenger counting data from four years (2007-2010) on 147 routes in the three PostBus regions: the Valais, eastern and northern Switzerland. The results are extremely conclusive: an increase in the frequency of PostBus services leads to an increase in passenger numbers. An increase in PostBus services of around 7.5% results in an average increase in passenger numbers of nearly 15% on the routes analysed. There are however some discrepancies in the results, depending on the region studied and the context. 

Potential of high frequency routes

The study shows that adding an extra service on higher frequency routes (more than 10 pairs of trips per day) generally attracts more new passengers than on low frequency routes (less than 10 pairs of trips per day). An additional service on these routes generates an average of 26 new passengers. As far as customers are concerned, a PostBus service needs to consist of at least 12 pairs of trips to meet the needs of commuters. The latter are more likely to use the PostBus service on a route if there is at least one bus every hour from morning to evening. 

More passengers travelling to stations and city centres

The study highlights how PostBus has adapted its service offer over the years to passenger mobility patterns. The services on feeder routes to railway stations and from outlying areas to city centres, for example, have been extended. The result is that the greatest increase in passenger numbers has been recorded by these feeder routes. The number of passengers using these routes is higher near stations. This confirms the important role of PostBus within the Swiss transport system, which focuses on city centres and stations and is geared to providing combined mobility services. 

A planning tool

The study has enabled PostBus Switzerland AG to draw some valuable conclusions about the factors that influence demand and has obtained valuable information on how to further improve its services in the future. The study confirms that there is considerable potential for routes on the outskirts of conurbations and feeding routes to stations. The same applies to routes in tourist regions – provided that they are well connected to the rail network – and routes with high numbers of passengers, the frequency of which will be increased further in the evenings. "This study represents a valuable tool that can show our clients – the Confederation, the cantons and municipalities – how to target routes that are likely to attract more passengers if extra services are added", explains Gregor Ochsenbein, head of project at PostBus Switzerland AG. The project has enabled the scientists from the EPFL to develop quantitative and qualitative analysis tools to make it easier to identify the factors involved in people’s mobility choices. 

Information 

The full study report can be downloaded from the Internet sites
www.postbus.ch/combinedmobility and http://transport.epfl.ch/optima

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