IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i23p16183-d1284996.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Utilizing Social Media Data for Estimating Transit Performance Metrics

Author

Listed:
  • Camille Kamga

    (The University Transportation Research Center, Region 2, The City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA)

  • Richard Kish

    (The University Transportation Research Center, Region 2, The City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA)

  • Sandeep Mudigonda

    (The University Transportation Research Center, Region 2, The City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA)

  • Rodrigue Tchamna

    (The University Transportation Research Center, Region 2, The City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA)

Abstract

In this paper, a methodology using text and sentiment analysis of social media data is proposed to determine performance metrics that customers frequently mentioned when riding the New York Transit system and how they compare to those reported by the transit agency. This method is carried out by analyzing Twitter data collected from users mentioning their transit experience and recognizing trends regarding sentiment. The results show that customers mostly express negative over positive experiences about their transit services in terms of perceptions and expectations. Transit users are more critical about wait times and delays and notice the positive factors during service, such as system aesthetics, train speed, station cleanliness, and safety (in that order). The data analyzed also provides insights on locations and transit lines where there are frequent occurrences of customer issues. The proposed methodology provides a relevant contribution from a practical viewpoint because performance metrics are important factors to consider by transit operators which are exploring new practices to retain and attract ridership, given that transit systems are generally considered among the sustainable modes of transportation.

Suggested Citation

  • Camille Kamga & Richard Kish & Sandeep Mudigonda & Rodrigue Tchamna, 2023. "Utilizing Social Media Data for Estimating Transit Performance Metrics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-20, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:23:p:16183-:d:1284996
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/23/16183/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/23/16183/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vanessa Stjernborg & Ola Mattisson, 2016. "The Role of Public Transport in Society—A Case Study of General Policy Documents in Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-16, November.
    2. Eboli, Laura & Mazzulla, Gabriella, 2011. "A methodology for evaluating transit service quality based on subjective and objective measures from the passenger's point of view," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 172-181, January.
    3. Delbosc, Alexa & Currie, Graham, 2012. "Modelling the causes and impacts of personal safety perceptions on public transport ridership," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 302-309.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Verbich, David & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2016. "The pursuit of satisfaction: Variation in satisfaction with bus transit service among riders with encumbrances and riders with disabilities using a large-scale survey from London, UK," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 64-71.
    2. Agnieszka A. Tubis & Emilia T. Skupień & Mateusz Rydlewski, 2021. "Method of Assessing Bus Stops Safety Based on Three Groups of Criteria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-27, July.
    3. Salonen, Arto O., 2018. "Passenger's subjective traffic safety, in-vehicle security and emergency management in the driverless shuttle bus in Finland," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 106-110.
    4. Dong, Hongming & Ma, Shoufeng & Jia, Ning & Tian, Junfang, 2021. "Understanding public transport satisfaction in post COVID-19 pandemic," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 81-88.
    5. Gal-Tzur, Ayelet & Grant-Muller, Susan M. & Kuflik, Tsvi & Minkov, Einat & Nocera, Silvio & Shoor, Itay, 2014. "The potential of social media in delivering transport policy goals," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 115-123.
    6. Rafal Stachyra & Kamil Roman, 2021. "Analysis of Accessibility of Public Transport in Warsaw in the Opinion of Users," Postmodern Openings, Editura Lumen, Department of Economics, vol. 12(3), pages 384-403, August.
    7. Ghada Alturif & Wafaa Saleh, 2023. "Attitudes and Behaviour towards More Sustainable Travel Options in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An Emerging Social Change?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-19, August.
    8. Hickman, Robin & Chen, Chia-Lin & Chow, Andy & Saxena, Sharad, 2015. "Improving interchanges in China: the experiential phenomenon," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 175-186.
    9. Lupo, Toni, 2015. "Fuzzy ServPerf model combined with ELECTRE III to comparatively evaluate service quality of international airports in Sicily," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 249-259.
    10. Pierluigi Coppola & Fulvio Silvestri, 2021. "Gender Inequality in Safety and Security Perceptions in Railway Stations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-15, April.
    11. Hongjun Cui & Mingzhi Li & Minqing Zhu & Xinwei Ma, 2023. "Investigating the Impacts of Urban–Rural Bus Service Quality on Rural Residents’ Travel Choices Using an SEM–MNL Integration Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-22, August.
    12. Link, Heike, 2019. "The impact of including service quality into efficiency analysis: The case of franchising regional rail passenger serves in Germany," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 284-300.
    13. Pavol KRAL & Katarina JANOSKOVA & Tomas KLIESTIK, 2018. "Key Determinants Of The Public Transport User’S Satisfaction," REVISTA ADMINISTRATIE SI MANAGEMENT PUBLIC, Faculty of Administration and Public Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 2018(31), pages 36-51, December.
    14. Mokonyama, Mathetha & Venter, Christoffel, 2013. "Incorporation of customer satisfaction in public transport contracts – A preliminary analysis," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 58-66.
    15. Mulley, Corinne & Clifton, Geoffrey Tilden & Balbontin, Camila & Ma, Liang, 2017. "Information for travelling: Awareness and usage of the various sources of information available to public transport users in NSW," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 111-132.
    16. Luo, Shuli & He, Sylvia Y. & Grant-Muller, Susan & Song, Linqi, 2023. "Influential factors in customer satisfaction of transit services: Using crowdsourced data to capture the heterogeneity across individuals, space and time," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 173-183.
    17. Celik, Erkan & Aydin, Nezir & Gumus, Alev Taskin, 2014. "A multiattribute customer satisfaction evaluation approach for rail transit network: A real case study for Istanbul, Turkey," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 283-293.
    18. Ahmed Derbel & Younes Boujelbene, 2023. "Performance classification of Tunisian public transport operators," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 535-574, June.
    19. Wenjia Zhang, 2016. "Does compact land use trigger a rise in crime and a fall in ridership? A role for crime in the land use–travel connection," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(14), pages 3007-3026, November.
    20. Zhang, Kai & Zhou, Kan & Zhang, Fangzhou, 2014. "Evaluating bus transit performance of Chinese cities: Developing an overall bus comfort model," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 105-112.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:23:p:16183-:d:1284996. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.