Estimation of Transfer Time from Multimodal Transit Services in the Paris Region

A reliable public transport system is beneficial for people traveling in the metropolitan area. Transfer time in multimodal transit networks has been highlighted as one of the measures of public transport service quality. In this paper, we propose a novel method to estimate the passengers’ transfer time between the transit modes (i.e., train, metro, and bus) based on the 2018 Household Travel Survey in the Paris region, France. The transit trips with a single transit leg are primarily studied, wherein average wait time and mode speeds are estimated through an integrated linear regression model. Based on these inferences, transfer time is deduced within the trips of multiple transit legs. The decomposition procedure of journey time facilitates the estimation of the time components, and reveals the transfer variability in mode, time, and space. From the results, we find that the transfer to the railway modes, especially to the metro, costs less time on average than the transfer to the bus in the study area. The transfer patterns in the morning and evening peak hours are different regarding the transfer duration and locations. Lastly, the results’ reliability, method scalability, and potential applications are discussed in detail.