Choosing Sustainable and Traditional Public Transportation Alternatives Using a Novel Decision-Making Framework Considering Passengers’ Travel Behaviors: A Case Study of Istanbul

Pelin Büşra Şimşek, Akın Özdemir (), Selahattin Kosunalp and Teodor Iliev
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Pelin Büşra Şimşek: Department of Industrial Engineering, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 55139, Türkiye
Akın Özdemir: Department of Industrial Engineering, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 55139, Türkiye
Selahattin Kosunalp: Department of Computer Technologies, Gönen Vocational School, Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University, Bandırma 10200, Türkiye
Teodor Iliev: Department of Telecommunications, University of Ruse, 7017 Ruse, Bulgaria

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-22

Abstract: A public transportation system consists of complex processes and requires comprehensive planning activities for a city when dealing with the travel behavior decisions of passengers. Travel behavior decisions are important in selecting suitable transportation alternatives for passengers. In the literature, little attention has been paid to prioritizing the criteria and ranking the alternatives for assessing sustainable and traditional public transportation modes when considering the travel behavior decisions of passengers. In this paper, a five-phased novel decision analysis framework, including Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and VIekriterijumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje (VIKOR) techniques, is proposed to evaluate the alternatives. In addition, to the best of our knowledge, the novel decision-making framework in this paper has not been employed before to assess sustainable transportation alternatives dealing with the travel behavior decisions of passengers. Next, the thirteen criteria are specified, including economics, safety, travel quality, and environmental and health aspects, to analyze the travel behavior decisions of passengers with regard to the experts’ notions, published reports, and papers. Then, the seven public transportation alternatives are determined, including sustainable and traditional transportation modes. A case study was carried out in Istanbul, Türkiye. Based on the results, service frequency, the vehicle type and its mechanism, and ease of accessibility were found to be the top three significant criteria that affect travel behavior decisions. Furthermore, metro, Marmaray, and metrobus are the top three public transportation alternatives. In addition, the results were verified. Moreover, managerial and theoretical recommendations are provided to policymakers. Lastly, sustainable development goals 11.2 and 11.b can be achieved by designing an accessible, affordable, environmentally friendly, safe, and sustainable public transportation system when analyzing the travel behavior decisions of passengers.

Keywords: public transportation; travel behavior analysis; transportation policy; sustainability; multi-criteria decision analysis; sustainable development goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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