New Publication: The Importance of First and Last Mile Trips to and from Gautrain

We collaborated with Gautrain Management Agency to study how Gautrain passengers choose the first and last mile mode of their Gautrain trip. We used a stated preference survey to collect the data and found that:

• people choose whichever first and last mile mode is better for them, often using different modes for each part of the trip (e.g. bus to the origin station, and walking from the destination station).

• passengers are much more time-sensitive on the last than the first part of the trip. So it is more important to have fast, reliable bus trips, short walks, and convenient e-hailing connections on the final leg, rather than on the first leg of the commute trip.

• many people have safety concerns on the part of the trip outside Gautrain stations and trains, especially women, making them less inclined towards drop-off and walking than men.

The key takeaway: the speed, cost, and convenience of the trip to and from Gautrain is extremely important to passengers. It might be the key reason why they fail to use Gautrain at all. A slow and unattractive feeder trip may cancel out the speed and quality advantage of using Gautrain for the rest of the trip, and lose passengers who might otherwise have used Gautrain.

First and last mile connectivity issues should be front and centre in any plans to expand or improve Gautrain under a new concessionaire in 2027 and beyond.

Free copies of the paper are available here