BOSTON — It carries commuters and allows us to experience all that our area has to offer.
Northeastern University PhD candidate Nail Bashan believes public transit is the best thing we can have in our cities.
But he did come to a conclusion.
“Everybody hates waiting for their bus, but clearly some people hate it more,” he said.
Bashan’s research focuses on urban mobility and the urban experience. And he realized that when many people think about transit, the focus is on the moment when passengers are on the move.
Factors like crowding and wait times often receive a lot of attention. But he has a theory that the experience spent waiting for public transit is just as important.
“People like to take transit if they feel more comfortable during the entire part of that, or they don’t even want to try taking the public transit because they just hate waiting in a bus stop that doesn’t have a shelter.”
Bashan studied 520 bus stops in the Boston metro area that are in service all day.
His data revealed that even if two bus stops experience the same level of service, a bus stop with a higher level of amenities has a higher level of ridership. Bashan explained that bus stop amenities include having a shelter, a bench, and ideally, a trash can.
Such a stop might also be farther away from traffic. On the other end, a bus stop lacking amenities may only have a bus route sign and be located close to the road.
Boston 25 Traffic Anchor Catherine Parrotta asked a commuter if bus stop amenities are a factor in her commute. Northeastern University student Jess was waiting for the bus at an ideal bus stop on Huntington Ave.
She said she takes public transit whenever she can. When asked if she chooses a bus stop based on amenities, she answered, “Honestly, for me, it’s proximity. I don’t choose a stop based on a cover or not. I normally choose it just based on where I live and how close it is to getting to my destination.”
“In the winter, when it’s snowing, it’s always nice to have a shelter, she added. I think it’s a small difference, one that not a lot of people realize, but I think it’s definitely useful.”
Bashan admits it’s not feasible to add amenities to every bus stop. But he does believe his research now provides a measurement for a commuting component that’s often overlooked.
Of the 520 stops included in his research, Bashan said only 103 had all three key amenities at the time of the study.
On the other end, 242 stops lacked all of those amenities at the time of the study. Bashan did point out that the MBTA’s bus network redesign project is actively upgrading stops in certain corridors, and some recent improvements may not be reflected in his data.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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