A Consumer Logistics Framework for Understanding Preferences for High-Speed Rail Transportation, MTI Report 05-04

The prospect for high-speed rail (HSR) service for the San Francisco-Los Angeles corridor and beyond first arose eight years ago. The plan remains to connect California’s major cities in the next 15 years at a total cost of $25 billion. The purpose of this study is to reach a fuller understanding of consumers’ perceptions of such a service. Consumer logistics theory is used in the study as a framework to begin to provide this understanding of consumer perceptions and to inform future efforts to develop and market HSR service. This study uses the consumer logistics framework to help understand how various demographic groups, various groups defined by public transportation usage frequency, and various groups defined by HSR usage intention level perceive various logistical aspects of HSR service. The consumer logistics framework is also be used to develop a macro model that examines the relationship between performance of consumer logistics functions, perceptions of HSR travel value (consisting of travel efficiency and effectiveness), and HSR travel intention for intercity business commuters. The results show the manner and the extent to which the logistics of HSR are likely to lead to customer intentions to use it for inter-city transportation and how HSR service providers, by enhancing their consumer logistics capabilities, can encourage intended HSR usage between San Francisco and Los Angeles for business commuter