Analysis Of The Impact Of Fare Affordability On Low-income Metro Commuting Groups

Urbanisation has increased road traffic congestion in urban areas.The metro has become the main means of commuting for city dwellers due to its high capacity and good punctuality.In general,metro fares are higher than surface transit,which puts pressure on low-income people to travel.This paper examines the impact of metro fares on this group of people from the perspective of fare affordability,with the aim of informing the development of a reasonable fare policy.The main work and conclusions of this paper are as follows.1.Firstly,it defines the low-income group,the lower-income group and the middleincome group,and defines fare affordability β.It investigates the fares of metro and public transport in some cities at home and abroad,including first-tier cities Beijing,Shanghai,Guangzhou and Shenzhen,new first-tier cities Shenyang,Changsha,Wuhan and Tianjin,second-tier cities Dalian,Changchun,Hefei and Shijiazhuang,etc.;it analyses the relationship between the income of commuters in different cities and metro The relationship between the income of commuters and the affordability of metro fares in different cities is analysed.The relationship between the income of commuters and the affordability of metro fares in different cities is analysed.2.A structural equation model was constructed to analyse the impact of different factors on commuting trips.A mediator model was used to analyse the mechanism of single fares and fare affordability β on commuting trips.It was found that the coefficients of service quality and fare reasonableness on perceived value were 0.591 and 0.225 respectively,with service quality having a greater impact on perceived value compared to fare reasonableness.Affordability of fares and single-journey fares were 0.861 and 0.765 respectively,with affordability of fares being more relevant to fare reasonableness than single-journey fares.Also: the mediating effect of single fare on perceived value through fare affordability accounts for 73.33%-74.44% of the total effect.Compared to the whole population,the low-income group is more affected by the affordability of fares.3.Based on cumulative prospect theory,a logit model was used to analyse the effects of generalised travel costs and fare affordability on commuting trips for low-income people along a commuter corridor in Beijing.The results of the mediation model were used to create a reference point and validate the model’s soundness,and to analyse the impact of different influencing factors on commuting travel behaviour.It was found that:(1)the probability of choosing metro commuting increased with a constant psychologically acceptable maximum broad cost and an increase in income,with the rate of increase being faster and then slower,due to the high sensitivity of low-income people to fares;(2)the probability of choosing metro commuting increased with a constant income and a higher psychologically acceptable maximum broad cost,because the higher the psychologically acceptable maximum broad cost,the higher the acceptable cost;(3)the probability of sensitivity analysis of the proportional change in fare affordability among reference points,changes in route form,and changes in travel chains.The conclusions drawn are: the proportion of fare affordability β in the maximum psychologically acceptable broad cost affects travel;centripetal lines are more affected by fare affordability β than tangential and traversal lines,because centripetal lines are shorter and the difference in fares is more pronounced;analysing the case scenarios under travel chain changes,when income rises,the probability of using the metro for both morning and evening peak commuting trips rises,and the probability of using surface transit for both commuting This is due to the higher value of time after the increase in income.4.Existing fare concession schemes work for low-income commuters in the form of stored value card discounts and combined metro and bus discounts,the effectiveness of which depends on whether the threshold amount of the discount is reached and the length of the metro and bus transfer respectively.The existing fare policy is discussed in relation to the case study,and suggestions for fare optimisation options are made.There are 38 figures,23 tables and 74 references.