Identifying Transit Driver Preferences for Work Shift Structures: An Econometric Analysis

The combination of a strict labor legislation with daily and weekly time-dependent demand patterns has meant that transit companies tend to suffer significant inefficiencies; indeed, as more drivers than the minimum required are hired, providing services at off-peak periods, many tend to be inactive during these periods. To attack this problem, two strategies have been proposed. The first is using flexible shifts that may change daily according to a predefined contract. The other is using split shifts in which drivers' working hours are split in two to serve both the morning and afternoon peak periods. However, evidence of driver acceptance of these strategies is lacking. This paper presents a methodology to identify which characteristics of a shift are important for drivers (considering their socioeconomic characteristics) and to quantify their impact. Such information would allow transit operators to offer better working shifts to their drivers, with mutual benefits. The approach includes estimation of a mixed logit model based on stated preference data for choice of working shift; the context definition, shift attributes, and in general the experimental design were quite involved. A sample of 436 drivers working at two important operators in Santiago were interviewed. Our modelling results show considerable heterogeneity in drivers' preferences and also show that a significant number of them would be prepared to participate in flexible shifts. Our method allows operators to determine the economic incentives they should attach to such shifts for them to be accepted by the required fraction of their drivers.