Implementing a behavioural pilot survey for the stage - based study of the whole journey traveller experience

The European project METPEX aims to develop and validate an evaluation tool for the whole journey experience that takes into consideration the point of view of the passenger. The traveller experience is a broader concept compared to the standard notion of the ‘trip’ or one journey, as it embraces pre - trip information acquisition process and ends when the traveller arrives at the final destination. The focus on the whole journey experience thus represents the first distinguishing characteristic of our data collection effort. An additional feature is the inclusion of questions tailored to special user groups within a survey designed for the general public. The third innovative aspect is related to the collection of self - related information (attitudes, perceptions etc.) at the stage - rather than at the trip - level. The fourth innovation is the use of the same variables across five different instruments (face to face interviews, on line questionnaire, smartphone app, game and focus groups). A pilot survey has been implemented to help identify what kind of information should be collected to sufficiently characterize the different phases of the traveller experience. Five categories of variables that were expected to influence overall travellers’ evaluations were identified and tested: individual attributes, contextual variables, attitudes, travel experience and satisfaction aspects. Administering the pilot survey resulted in a total of 554 interviews in eight different cities across Europe. The experience that was gained from the pilot survey implementation was supplemented by consultation with 45 different stakeholders that reviewed the tool. Potentialities and shortcomings that emerged from these assessment activities are discussed.