IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/transp/v48y2021i1d10.1007_s11116-019-10057-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The use of recovery time in timetables: rail passengers’ preferences and valuation relative to travel time and delays

Author

Listed:
  • Manuel Ojeda-Cabral

    (Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds)

  • Jeremy Shires

    (Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds)

  • Mark Wardman

    (Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds)

  • Fitsum Teklu

    (SYSTRA)

  • Nigel Harris

    (The Railway Consultancy Ltd)

Abstract

Recovery time in the rail industry is the additional time that is included in train timetables over and above the minimum journey time necessary often with the explicit aim of improving punctuality. Recovery time is widely used in railways in a number of countries but prior to this study there has been no investigation of the rail users’ point of view. Perceived recovery time, such as being held outside stations and prolonged stops at stations, might have some premium valuation due to the frustration caused. If perceived recovery time in train timetables does carry a premium, then the benefits of improved punctuality achieved by it will be reduced. This paper is the first to investigate passengers’ views and preferences on the use of recovery time. We summarise the findings of a large study and provide estimates of passengers’ valuations of recovery time, both relative to in-vehicle time and late time, that can be used for economic appraisal purposes. Overall, we find most passengers support the use of recovery time but the context is important. Only 13% of users disapprove of its use as a tool to reduce lateness. The estimated premia vary by demand characteristics and are significant in some contexts, although on average are of a small magnitude. The applicability of the estimates is demonstrated through the appraisal of an actual scheme in the UK. We observe that the introduction of more recovery time along with the subsequent improvement in reliability can lead to significant reductions in generalised journey time, even when recovery time carries a valuation premium. We must however strike a word of caution since we note that there were higher than expected proportions of non-traders in the survey which may have affected the results; future studies into the topic should look to minimise the proportion of non-traders. This study provides valuable and necessary first steps in this challenging topic.

Suggested Citation

  • Manuel Ojeda-Cabral & Jeremy Shires & Mark Wardman & Fitsum Teklu & Nigel Harris, 2021. "The use of recovery time in timetables: rail passengers’ preferences and valuation relative to travel time and delays," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 337-368, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:48:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s11116-019-10057-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11116-019-10057-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11116-019-10057-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11116-019-10057-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark Wardman & Richard Batley, 2014. "Travel time reliability: a review of late time valuations, elasticities and demand impacts in the passenger rail market in Great Britain," Transportation, Springer, vol. 41(5), pages 1041-1069, September.
    2. Li, Zheng & Hensher, David A. & Rose, John M., 2010. "Willingness to pay for travel time reliability in passenger transport: A review and some new empirical evidence," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 384-403, May.
    3. Daniel McFadden & Kenneth Train, 2000. "Mixed MNL models for discrete response," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(5), pages 447-470.
    4. Bliemer, Michiel C.J. & Rose, John M., 2011. "Experimental design influences on stated choice outputs: An empirical study in air travel choice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 63-79, January.
    5. Hess, Stephane & Daly, Andrew & Dekker, Thijs & Cabral, Manuel Ojeda & Batley, Richard, 2017. "A framework for capturing heterogeneity, heteroskedasticity, non-linearity, reference dependence and design artefacts in value of time research," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 126-149.
    6. Abrantes, Pedro A.L. & Wardman, Mark R., 2011. "Meta-analysis of UK values of travel time: An update," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 1-17, January.
    7. Jens Parbo & Otto Anker Nielsen & Carlo Giacomo Prato, 2016. "Passenger Perspectives in Railway Timetabling: A Literature Review," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 500-526, July.
    8. Wardman, Mark & Chintakayala, V. Phani K. & de Jong, Gerard, 2016. "Values of travel time in Europe: Review and meta-analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 93-111.
    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. Tsoleridis, Panagiotis & Choudhury, Charisma F. & Hess, Stephane, 2022. "Deriving transport appraisal values from emerging revealed preference data," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 225-245.
    2. Ilka Dubernet & Kay W. Axhausen, 2020. "The German value of time and value of reliability study: the survey work," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1477-1513, June.
    3. Sander Cranenburgh & Marco Kouwenhoven, 2021. "An artificial neural network based method to uncover the value-of-travel-time distribution," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2545-2583, October.
    4. Maria Börjesson & Marco Kouwenhoven & Gerard Jong & Andrew Daly, 2023. "Can repeated surveys reveal the variation of the value of travel time over time?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 245-284, February.
    5. Vautard, Félix & Liu, Chengxi & Fröidh, Oskar & Byström, Camilla, 2021. "Estimation of interregional rail passengers’ valuations for their desired departure times," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 183-196.
    6. Lars Hultkrantz & Selen Savsin, 2018. "Is ‘referencing’ a remedy to hypothetical bias in value of time elicitation? Evidence from economic experiments," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(6), pages 1827-1847, November.
    7. van Cranenburgh, Sander & Rose, John M. & Chorus, Caspar G., 2018. "On the robustness of efficient experimental designs towards the underlying decision rule," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 50-64.
    8. Tjiong, Jeff & Dekker, Thijs & Hess, Stephane & Ojeda Cabral, Manuel, 2022. "The selection of income measures in value of travel time models and their implications for the VTT, its cross-sectional income elasticity and transport appraisal," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    9. Nikhil Sikka & Paul Hanley, 2013. "What do commuters think travel time reliability is worth? Calculating economic value of reducing the frequency and extent of unexpected delays," Transportation, Springer, vol. 40(5), pages 903-919, September.
    10. Jawaher Binsuwadan & Gerard De Jong & Richard Batley & Phill Wheat, 2022. "The value of travel time savings in freight transport: a meta-analysis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1183-1209, August.
    11. Merkert, Rico & Beck, Matthew, 2017. "Value of travel time savings and willingness to pay for regional aviation," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 29-42.
    12. Small, Kenneth A., 2012. "Valuation of travel time," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 2-14.
    13. Carrion, Carlos & Levinson, David, 2012. "Value of travel time reliability: A review of current evidence," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 720-741.
    14. Kingsley Adjenughwure & Basil Papadopoulos, 2019. "Towards a Fair and More Transparent Rule-Based Valuation of Travel Time Savings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, February.
    15. Le Goff, Alix & Monchambert, Guillaume & Raux, Charles, 2022. "Are solo driving commuters ready to switch to carpool? Heterogeneity of preferences in Lyon's urban area," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 27-39.
    16. Wardman, Mark & Toner, Jeremy & Fearnley, Nils & Flügel, Stefan & Killi, Marit, 2018. "Review and meta-analysis of inter-modal cross-elasticity evidence," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 662-681.
    17. Poudel, Niranjan & Singleton, Patrick A., 2024. "Willingness to pay for changes in travel time and work time: A stated choice experiment of US commuters," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    18. Yinger, John, 2021. "The price of access to jobs: Bid-function envelopes for commuting costs✰," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    19. Mickaël Beaud & Thierry Blayac & Maïté Stéphan, 2014. "Measurements and properties of the values of time and reliability," Working Papers 14-06, LAMETA, Universtiy of Montpellier, revised Jul 2014.
    20. Haghani, Milad & Sarvi, Majid, 2018. "Hypothetical bias and decision-rule effect in modelling discrete directional choices," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 361-388.

    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:kap:transp:v:48:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s11116-019-10057-z. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.