Multicriteria Evaluation of Service Performance of Tram Stops: A Case Study in Eskişehir, Türkiye

Urban transport operators seek to identify development areas to attract more passengers. Considering the importance of stops in the desirability of public transport, this study presents a methodology for evaluating the service performance of stops on a tram line and identifies stops with poor service performance. It focused on the service provided to passengers rather than the service consumed. The potential user population of the stops, the punctuality of the line vehicles at the stops, the comfort of the waiting area due to congestion, and the access safety were considered evaluation criteria, with the assessment approaches. The overall service performance of the stops was ranked using a multicriteria decision-making approach, consisting of the best–worst method and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution. The developed methodology was applied to the stops of a tram line operating between the Batıkent suburban area and the center of Eskişehir, a Turkish city, where the area users have no other rail transport alternative for access to the city center. The results revealed that the stops perform differently along the line depending on their characteristics. For a detailed discussion, the results were compared with the actual, albeit partial, passenger numbers of the stops. To increase the attractiveness of the tram for users, it is suggested that stops with low potential user populations should be bypassed in a planned manner during off-peak hours to speed up the journey and that the passenger flow should be separated from motorized traffic at stops with high access risk.