Metro user evaluation of crowding during rush hours : Case study: Stockholm

Millions of people use public transport daily. Specifically, 1,204,000 is approximately the number of boardings per contract area a winter's day in Stockholm. Since the capacity and frequency of the metro service are already quite good in this city, this thesis does not focus on improve that. Its aim is to know the assessment made by metro users of the crowding produced during rush hour. This evaluation is performed by two questionnaires, one shorter that is carried out on board and one longer, online. But before starting with the surveys, this work introduces some general information about public transport in Stockholm and it distinguishes capacity and crowding concepts. Any human behavior begins with the attitudes and perceptions that people show to any particular aspect, from which and through their preferences, they define their behavior acting in one way or another. And once they have made their decision and have chosen to use a service, they will be able to evaluate it by their satisfaction level. All these concepts are studied here as the basis for the surveys' development. After its writing and conduction to students, KTH workers, etc. the results obtained are analyzed by using SPSS statistical software. From the users' attitudes, their perceptions, preferences and satisfaction levels, the metro system weaknesses are identified and some improvements are proposed, in addition to making proposals for future research