Determinants of Usage and Satisfaction with Demand Responsive Transport Systems in Rural Areas

Mobility in rural areas requires increased attention, because of not only the large share of the population living there but also the difficulties and special needs that characterize the areas themselves and their residents and visitors. Demand responsive transport (DRT) systems can fill the gap for flexible and sustainable public transport in rural environments. However, since most past studies focused on the urban context, there is still a lack of knowledge on the determinants of usage and loyalty to these systems. The objective of the present study is to identify the decisive factors of DRT systems’ usage in rural areas by examining user characteristics, usage cases, and the determinants of satisfaction with such services. Insights are obtained based on survey data collected on two DRT systems in Austria—one system with a flexible timetable and predetermined stops that mainly serves suburban residents and another door-to-door service with a fixed timetable that is oriented to locals and tourists. The usage of DRT systems is modeled via regression models and the decisive factors are identified and compared among user groups and services. The findings suggest that DRT systems are used for both compulsory and non-mandatory trips and that the majority of users are female. However, the results from different user groups and services suggest that there are not unanimous determinants of the probability of traveling by DRT. With regard to overall satisfaction, it is found that it is related to satisfaction with both trip-level attributes and system design characteristics.