Optimization of Thessaloniki’s Public Transport System with the Use of Conjoint Analysis: A Tourists’ Perspective
摘要
Tourists have specific mobility needs and requirements. Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece, and currently, it faces a growth in tourist flows. Apart from active mobility, public transport is the main mode of transport that tourists use. In order to assess and optimize the specific mobility needs and requirements of tourists, we conducted a Conjoint Analysis using the Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC) technique, in which 63 tourists participated, but there were only 36 complete answers. The sample seems to be low, but it can be considered sufficient due to the low population of tourists and the fact that CBC does not require a specific sample to achieve statistical significance. The results regarding the importance of the attributes were as follows: i) Schedules and route information provision: 36.4%; ii) Waiting time at bus stop: 23.3%; iii) Space and seating: 22.5%; iv) Walking time to get to the bus stop from home: 14.4%; and iv) Price: 3.4%. Obviously, tourists in Thessaloniki need schedules and route information provision and do not want to wait long at bus stops, while, surprisingly, they do not care so much about the ticket price. Moreover, a market simulation was conducted where it was found that a new proposed scenario, which was not even the best one, would have approximately 69.4% market penetration compared to 21.6% of the current situation. In conclusion, cities should focus on providing travel information, short waiting times at bus stops, and low bus crowdedness to increase tourist flows.