IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v132y2020icp651-665.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of public transport strikes on the road network: The case of Athens

Author

Listed:
  • Spyropoulou, Ioanna

Abstract

Public transport strikes comprise a form of traffic disruption affecting “normal” traveller behaviour, and result in the increase of traffic congestion, traffic accidents and air pollution. Travellers modify their trip characteristics in anticipation of strike effects, while their behaviour depends on various factors including individual characteristics, trip flexibility, available transport modes and attitudes towards them. This study explores the effect of public transport strikes on traffic conditions utilising loop detector data and, in particular, examining the impacts on traffic flow, mean speed and travel time. The city of Athens is used as a reference case. The analysis employs descriptive statistics, as well as the design of generalised linear models to capture the impact of public transport strikes on traffic conditions, and to define the contributing spatio-temporal factors affecting the impacts. Study results highlighted the increase of congestion as expressed through all explored indicators, as a result of the strikes. In particular, increased traffic flow (up to 30%), reduced mean speed (up to 27%) and increased travel times (up to 25%) were observed at the majority of the explored sites. Public transport strike coverage and time of day were found to be the dominant factors. Other contributing factors were found to be day of the week and site-specific characteristics including: the existence of tolls; site location relative to the centre of Athens; and the existence of traffic lights on the explored links. The results of this study can form the basis for the design and implementation of targeted countermeasures that mitigate congestion effects, as well as measures promoting green transport resulting in travellers adopting more sustainable trip routines in the city of Athens.

Suggested Citation

  • Spyropoulou, Ioanna, 2020. "Impact of public transport strikes on the road network: The case of Athens," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 651-665.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:132:y:2020:i:c:p:651-665
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2019.12.022
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856419313886
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2019.12.022?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Exel, N.J.A. & Rietveld, P., 2009. "When strike comes to town... anticipated and actual behavioural reactions to a one-day, pre-announced, complete rail strike in the Netherlands," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 526-535, June.
    2. Stefan Bauernschuster & Timo Hener & Helmut Rainer, 2017. "When Labor Disputes Bring Cities to a Standstill: The Impact of Public Transit Strikes on Traffic, Accidents, Air Pollution, and Health," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 1-37, February.
    3. van Exel, N. Job A. & Rietveld, Piet, 2001. "Public transport strikes and traveller behaviour," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 237-246, October.
    4. Anastasia Pnevmatikou & Matthew Karlaftis & Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou, 2015. "Metro service disruptions: how do people choose to travel?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(6), pages 933-949, November.
    5. Ioannis Tsapakis & Benjamin G. Heydecker & Tao Cheng & Berk Anbaroglu, 2013. "How tube strikes affect macroscopic and link travel times in London," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 109-129, February.
    6. Lo, Shih-Che & Hall, Randolph W., 2006. "Effects of the Los Angeles transit strike on highway congestion," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 903-917, December.
    7. Shanjiang Zhu & David M. Levinson, 2012. "Disruptions to Transportation Networks: A Review," Transportation Research, Economics and Policy, in: David M. Levinson & Henry X. Liu & Michael Bell (ed.), Network Reliability in Practice, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 5-20, Springer.
    8. Saberi, Meead & Ghamami, Mehrnaz & Gu, Yi & Shojaei, Mohammad Hossein (Sam) & Fishman, Elliot, 2018. "Understanding the impacts of a public transit disruption on bicycle sharing mobility patterns: A case of Tube strike in London," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 154-166.
    9. Sara Ramos & Paula Vicente & Ana M. Passos & Patrícia Costa & Elizabeth Reis, 2019. "Perceptions of the Public Transport Service as a Barrier to the Adoption of Public Transport: A Qualitative Study," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-16, May.
    10. Nguyen-Phuoc, Duy Q. & Currie, Graham & De Gruyter, Chris & Young, William, 2018. "Transit user reactions to major service withdrawal – A behavioural study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 29-37.
    11. Emily Moylan & Fletcher Foti & Alexander Skabardonis, 2016. "Observed and simulated traffic impacts from the 2013 Bay Area Rapid Transit strike," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 162-179, March.
    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. Ali, Yousaf & Bilal, Muhammad & Sabir, Muhammad, 2021. "Impacts of transport strike on Pakistan economy: An inoperability Input-Output model (IIOM) approach," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. Bin Qiu & Yun Zhao, 2022. "Research on Improved Traffic Flow Prediction Network Based on CapsNet," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Lambros Mitropoulos & Annie Kortsari & Emy Apostolopoulou & Georgia Ayfantopoulou & Alexandros Deloukas, 2023. "Multimodal Traveling with Rail and Ride-Sharing: Lessons Learned during Planning and Demonstrating a Pilot Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.
    4. Jiang, Shixiong & Cai, Canhuang, 2022. "Unraveling the dynamic impacts of COVID-19 on metro ridership: An empirical analysis of Beijing and Shanghai, China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 158-170.
    5. Juan Pablo Montero-Salgado & Jose Muñoz-Sanz & Blanca Arenas-Ramírez & Cristina Alén-Cordero, 2022. "Identification of the Mechanical Failure Factors with Potential Influencing Road Accidents in Ecuador," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-27, June.

    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. Younes, Hannah & Nasri, Arefeh & Baiocchi, Giovanni & Zhang, Lei, 2019. "How transit service closures influence bikesharing demand; lessons learned from SafeTrack project in Washington, D.C. metropolitan area," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 83-92.
    2. Ali, Yousaf & Bilal, Muhammad & Sabir, Muhammad, 2021. "Impacts of transport strike on Pakistan economy: An inoperability Input-Output model (IIOM) approach," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Nguyen-Phuoc, Duy Q. & Currie, Graham & De Gruyter, Chris & Young, William, 2018. "Transit user reactions to major service withdrawal – A behavioural study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 29-37.
    4. Nima Golshani & Ehsan Rahimi & Ramin Shabanpour & Kouros Mohammadian & Joshua Auld & Hubert Ley, 2020. "Passengers' Travel Behavior in Response to Unplanned Transit Disruptions," Papers 2001.01718, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2020.
    5. Duy Q. Nguyen-Phuoc & William Young & Graham Currie & Chris Gruyter, 2020. "Traffic congestion relief associated with public transport: state-of-the-art," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 455-481, June.
    6. Sarker, Rumana Islam & Kaplan, Sigal & Mailer, Markus & Timmermans, Harry J.P., 2019. "Applying affective event theory to explain transit users’ reactions to service disruptions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 593-605.
    7. Stefan Bauernschuster & Timo Hener & Helmut Rainer, 2017. "When Labor Disputes Bring Cities to a Standstill: The Impact of Public Transit Strikes on Traffic, Accidents, Air Pollution, and Health," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 1-37, February.
    8. He, Sylvia Y. & Tao, Sui & Sun, Ka Kit, 2024. "Attitudes towards public transport under extended disruptions and massive-scale transit dysfunction: A Hong Kong case study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 247-258.
    9. Lin, Teddy & Shalaby, Amer & Miller, Eric, 2016. "Transit User Behaviour in Response to Service Disruption: State of Knowledge," 57th Transportation Research Forum (51st CTRF) Joint Conference, Toronto, Ontario, May 1-4, 2016 319263, Transportation Research Forum.
    10. Emma Strömblad & Lena Winslott Hiselius & Lena Smidfelt Rosqvist & Helena Svensson, 2021. "Adaptive Travel Behaviors to Cope with COVID-19: A Swedish Qualitative Study Focusing on Everyday Leisure Trips," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-17, November.
    11. Anastasia Pnevmatikou & Matthew Karlaftis & Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou, 2015. "Metro service disruptions: how do people choose to travel?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(6), pages 933-949, November.
    12. Greg Marsden, & Jillian Anable, & Chatterton, Tim & Docherty, Iain & Faulconbridge, James & Murray, Lesley & Roby, Helen & Shires, Jeremy, 2020. "Studying disruptive events: Innovations in behaviour, opportunities for lower carbon transport policy?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 89-101.
    13. Nazmul Arefin Khan & Muhammad Ahsanul Habib, 2018. "Evaluation of Preferences for Alternative Transportation Services and Loyalty towards Active Transportation during a Major Transportation Infrastructure Disruption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-14, June.
    14. Joshua Auld & Hubert Ley & Omer Verbas & Nima Golshani & Josiane Bechara & Angela Fontes, 2020. "A stated-preference intercept survey of transit-rider response to service disruptions," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 557-585, October.
    15. Shaun Larcom & Ferdinand Rauch & Tim Willems, 2017. "The Benefits of Forced Experimentation: Striking Evidence from the London Underground Network," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(4), pages 2019-2055.
    16. Matthias Beestermöller & Levke Jessen-Thiesen & Alexander Sandkamp & Alexander-Nikolai Sandkamp, 2023. "Striking Evidence: The Impact of Railway Strikes on Competition from Intercity Bus Services in Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 10483, CESifo.
    17. Giaccherini, Matilde & Kopinska, Joanna & Palma, Alessandro, 2021. "When particulate matter strikes cities: Social disparities and health costs of air pollution," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    18. Emily Moylan & Fletcher Foti & Alexander Skabardonis, 2016. "Observed and simulated traffic impacts from the 2013 Bay Area Rapid Transit strike," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 162-179, March.
    19. Elisa Borowski & Jason Soria & Joseph Schofer & Amanda Stathopoulos, 2020. "Disparities in ridesourcing demand for mobility resilience: A multilevel analysis of neighborhood effects in Chicago, Illinois," Papers 2010.15889, arXiv.org.
    20. Parkes, Stephen D. & Jopson, Ann & Marsden, Greg, 2016. "Understanding travel behaviour change during mega-events: Lessons from the London 2012 Games," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 104-119.

    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:eee:transa:v:132:y:2020:i:c:p:651-665. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    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.