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An Evaluation of Objective and Perceived Public Transport Accessibility in Qazvin, Iran

Darvishvand Nia, Ali | 2026

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 58853 (09)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Civil Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Kermanshah, Amir Hassan
  7. Abstract:
  8. Evaluating the performance of public transport systems solely based on objective indicators may provide an incomplete picture of the reality experienced by citizens. This study aimed to assess and compare objective and perceived public transport accessibility and to analyze the accessibility mismatch between them in the city of Qazvin. To measure objective accessibility, the first standard General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) dataset for Qazvin was produced, and a door-to-door travel time matrix was calculated. Accessibility to 14 key urban opportunities was then measured using a gravity model at the level of 105 traffic analysis zones and subsequently aggregated to eight residential areas for comparison with perceived accessibility. To measure perceived accessibility, the researcher-developed Perceived Public Transport Accessibility Scale (PPAS) was designed and validated based on a survey of 464 residents. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the unidimensional structure of the scale and demonstrated good model fit, while reliability indices (Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability) indicated satisfactory internal consistency. The findings showed that central areas and zones located along the main transport corridors exhibited the highest levels of objective accessibility, whereas peripheral areas ranked lowest. In contrast, perceived accessibility levels were relatively uniform across the eight residential areas, with no statistically significant differences observed among them. The results indicate a significant mismatch between objective and perceived measures of accessibility in Qazvin. In other words, although the system performs better from a technical standpoint in some areas, this advantage is not necessarily reflected in residents’ perceptions. Furthermore, perceived accessibility was significantly influenced by gender, age, education level, and dominant travel mode, with men reporting higher perceived accessibility than women, and older, less-educated individuals, as well as those whose dominant travel mode was walking or cycling, reporting higher levels of perceived accessibility
  9. Keywords:
  10. Public Transport ; Perceived Accessibility ; Objective Accessibility ; Performance Evaluation ; Qazvin

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