IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cdl/itsdav/qt8vz6m3tc.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Did Free Wi-Fi Make a Difference to Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor Service? An Evaluation of the Impact on Riders and Ridership

Author

Listed:
  • Mokhtarian, Patricia L.
  • Neufeld, Amanda J.
  • Dong, Zhi
  • Circella, Giovanni

Abstract

In November 2011, Amtrak launched free Wi-Fi service on all trains traveling the California Capitol Corridor route. Surveys of passengers found that wi-fi access has a positive impact on the expected travel frequency, especially for new riders. A discrete choice model was used to predict the choice to use the free wi-fi service; results identified demographic characteristics and other factors that indicate which passengers are more likely to use the service. Prior to installation, the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority indicated that a 1-2% increase in ridership would justify the free wi-fi. That result appears to have been met and most likely exceeded.

Suggested Citation

  • Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Neufeld, Amanda J. & Dong, Zhi & Circella, Giovanni, 2013. "Did Free Wi-Fi Make a Difference to Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor Service? An Evaluation of the Impact on Riders and Ridership," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt8vz6m3tc, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt8vz6m3tc
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/8vz6m3tc.pdf;origin=repeccitec
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kenyon, Susan & Lyons, Glenn, 2007. "Introducing multitasking to the study of travel and ICT: Examining its extent and assessing its potential importance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 161-175, February.
    2. Lyons, Glenn & Jain, Juliet & Holley, David, 2007. "The use of travel time by rail passengers in Great Britain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 107-120, January.
    3. Jain, Juliet & Lyons, Glenn, 2008. "The gift of travel time," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 81-89.
    4. Lyons, Glenn & Urry, John, 2005. "Travel time use in the information age," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 257-276.
    5. Choo, Sangho & Mokhtarian, Patricia L, 2005. "Do Telecommunications Affect Passenger Travel or Vice Versa? Structural Equation Models of Aggregate U.S. Time Series Data Using Composite Indexes," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt2zp5b7zv, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    6. Mattias Gripsrud & Randi Hjorthol, 2012. "Working on the train: from ‘dead time’ to productive and vital time," Transportation, Springer, vol. 39(5), pages 941-956, September.
    7. Ettema, Dick & Friman, Margareta & Gärling, Tommy & Olsson, Lars E. & Fujii, Satoshi, 2012. "How in-vehicle activities affect work commuters’ satisfaction with public transport," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 215-222.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhi Dong & Patricia Mokhtarian & Giovanni Circella & James Allison, 2015. "The estimation of changes in rail ridership through an onboard survey: did free Wi-Fi make a difference to Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor service?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 123-142, January.
    2. Pike, Susan & Kothawala, Alimurtaza, 2019. "Informing a Pilot: Preparing the Pre-launch Survey for the Davis Amtrak Station Access Program," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt04p9j3m2, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.

    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. Molin, Eric & Adjenughwure, Kingsley & de Bruyn, Menno & Cats, Oded & Warffemius, Pim, 2020. "Does conducting activities while traveling reduce the value of time? Evidence from a within-subjects choice experiment," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 18-29.
    2. Jia Tang & Feng Zhen & Jason Cao & Patricia L. Mokhtarian, 2018. "How do passengers use travel time? A case study of Shanghai–Nanjing high speed rail," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 451-477, March.
    3. Tang, Jia & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Zhen, Feng, 2020. "How do passengers allocate and evaluate their travel time? Evidence from a survey on the Shanghai–Nanjing high speed rail corridor, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Mark Wardman & Phani Chintakayala & Chris Heywood, 2020. "The valuation and demand impacts of the worthwhile use of travel time with specific reference to the digital revolution and endogeneity," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1515-1540, June.
    5. Muhamad Rizki & Tri Basuki Joewono & Dimas B. E. Dharmowijoyo & Prawira Fajarindra Belgiawan, 2021. "Does multitasking improve the travel experience of public transport users? Investigating the activities during commuter travels in the Bandung Metropolitan Area, Indonesia," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 429-454, June.
    6. Zhi Dong & Patricia Mokhtarian & Giovanni Circella & James Allison, 2015. "The estimation of changes in rail ridership through an onboard survey: did free Wi-Fi make a difference to Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor service?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 123-142, January.
    7. Imre Keseru & Cathy Macharis, 2018. "Travel-based multitasking: review of the empirical evidence," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 162-183, March.
    8. Lyons, Glenn & Jain , Juliet & Susilo , Yusak O. & Atkins, Steve, 2013. "Comparing rail passengers’ travel time use in Great Britain between 2004 and 2010," Working papers in Transport Economics 2013:17, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
    9. Aguiléra, Anne & Guillot, Caroline & Rallet, Alain, 2012. "Mobile ICTs and physical mobility: Review and research agenda," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 664-672.
    10. Bounie, Nathan & Adoue, François & Koning, Martin & L'Hostis, Alain, 2019. "What value do travelers put on connectivity to mobile phone and Internet networks in public transport? Empirical evidence from the Paris region," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 158-177.
    11. Lyons, Glenn & Jain, Juliet & Weir, Iain, 2016. "Changing times – A decade of empirical insight into the experience of rail passengers in Great Britain," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 94-104.
    12. Glenn Lyons & Juliet Jain & Yusak Susilo & Stephen Atkins, 2013. "Comparing Rail Passengers' Travel Time Use in Great Britain Between 2004 and 2010," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 560-579, November.
    13. Tiago Camacho & Marcus Foth & Andry Rakotonirainy & Markus Rittenbruch & Jonathan Bunker, 2016. "The role of passenger-centric innovation in the future of public transport," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 453-475, December.
    14. Mark Wardman & Glenn Lyons, 2016. "The digital revolution and worthwhile use of travel time: implications for appraisal and forecasting," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 507-530, May.
    15. Shamshiripour, Ali & Rahimi, Ehsan & (Kouros) Mohammadian, Abolfazl & Auld, Joshua, 2020. "Investigating the influence of latent lifestyles on productive travels: Insights into designing autonomous transit system," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 469-484.
    16. Jingya Gao & Andisheh Ranjbari & Don MacKenzie, 2019. "Would being driven by others affect the value of travel time? Ridehailing as an analogy for automated vehicles," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 2103-2116, December.
    17. Malokin, Aliaksandr & Circella, Giovanni & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2019. "How do activities conducted while commuting influence mode choice? Using revealed preference models to inform public transportation advantage and autonomous vehicle scenarios," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 82-114.
    18. Debbaghi, Fatima-Zahra & Kroesen, Maarten & de Vries, Gerdien & Pudāne, Baiba, 2024. "Daily schedule changes in the automated vehicle era: Uncovering the heterogeneity behind the veil of low survey commitment," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    19. Jinhyun Hong & David Philip McArthur & Mark Livingston, 2019. "Can Accessing the Internet while Travelling Encourage Commuters to Use Public Transport Regardless of Their Attitude?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-10, June.
    20. Cohen-Blankshtain, Galit, 2021. "On another track: Differing views of experts and politicians on rail investments in peripheral localities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Engineering;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:cdl:itsdav:qt8vz6m3tc. 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: Lisa Schiff (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/itucdus.html .

    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.