Evaluating Perceived travel time and travel time reliability in the transit system of Tehran (Case study: the first line of the BRT system of Tehran)

Congestion in the public transportation in Tehran is a convenient problem especially in the pick hours. Transferring in a congested transit vehicle makes passengers feel discomfort during their trips. Another important thing is the idea of time which is a subjective issue which means that passengers experience their travel times differently in a specific time interval. The literature has confirmed this issue, so the idea of “perceived travel time” has been introduced for many years. It implies that a passenger travelling by a congested public transport vehicle feels like the time is passing slower compared to those who are travelling in uncongested vehicles. The idea of perceived travel time has led some researchers to the concept of “perceived travel time reliability”. This paper is aimed at demonstrating the necessity of paying attention to these two concepts for the public transport system in Tehran. For this purpose, the first line of BRT system of Tehran has been considered as a case study. Using Automated Fare Collection (AFC) and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) data in a pick hour of a work day back in the autumn of 2019 and before spreading the corona virus, the perceived travel time and perceived travel time reliability are calculated. The results show that there is a significant difference between perceived and nominal. The differences show the necessity of reconsidering the analysis of public transport systems using the nominal travel time and travel time reliability. In fact, it seems that using the perceived will be more helpful