1. Reliability
Arrival on time has been shown to be an important competitive advantage. People appear to be much less tolerant of delays in public systems than of traffic jams in which their cars are caught.
2. Speed and Wide Coverage
A measure of the effectiveness of any transport system is door-to-door time. To maximize speed as well as comfort, the system has to have flexibility and wide coverage. A system that, at either end, requires long travel to reach the station, or an actual detour, is at a competitive disadvantage, even if it moves at a great speed when it is under way. Transfers between one mode and another, as between bus and rail service or between different rail lines, can reduce total usage of the system if they take too long and involve much walking, waiting, jockeying for seats in the vehicle, and so on.
3. Personal Security
In a number of public transit systems, crime against individuals has become a deterrent to public use. If the risks are perceived to be excessive, a private automobile is preferred. Use of a mass transportation system, especially outside of peak periods, depends to a large extent on security.
4. Comfort
The vehicle should provide adequate passenger comfort and assure seats for riders. A significant but less important aspect is climate control—that is, suitable heating and air conditioning.
5. Privacy
This essentially means the ability of the passenger to select travel companions or to travel alone. An automobile has the advantage here. That positive, however, must be set against the generally stress-producing task of driving one's own vehicle. Also, comfortable mass transportation may afford greater opportunity for reading. It may allow for conversation and for certain recreational activities. The advent of smart phones and other handheld devices allows for the time to be used for work or other communications as well.
6. Low Fares
The fare is a most important criterion. For a long time, fares were generally no more, and often much less, than the cost of an automobile with a single operator. This was so especially in cities such as New York, Chicago, and Boston, where a single fare could carry a traveler over large distances. In metropolitan areas generally, congestion and the high cost of parking gave mass transportation a substantial economic advantage. Objective measures of automobile costs, however, are not always applied by their users. People tend to think of automobiles as an essential part of their overhead, with such fixed charges as first costs, insurance, and licensing not figured into the per-mile cost. As cars and insurance began to increase greatly in price, mass transportation became still more competitive. However, experience indicates that even high automobile fuel costs will not cause riders to shift to mass transportation if it is deficient in operation or safety.
7. Frequent Service
To be convenient, the system must offer suitably frequent service throughout the day. Yet crowded peak hours and low usage at other times have always been among the worst problems of the system. These can lead to inefficient use of both capital investment and personnel. Staggering working hours and offering off-peak fares, among other devices, have been used to partially overcome these problems; the problems persist, however. Still, greater use of mass transportation for journeys to work, as opposed to recreational or other travel, remains a trend.
8. Freedom from Strikes
Historically, labor strikes have been a regular event in many mass transportation systems. Even after a strike has been settled, some disaffected riders may decide to stay away from the mass system.
