A good transit service in cities has a reliable timetable with a frequency such that arrivals at stops make the line attractive for the passengers waiting for a bus. This should especially be mandatory for shorter bus feeder lines such as bus line 236, which connects Zagreb University Campus to three tram lines and one bus line in the eastern part of the city. However, there have been reports of a bad quality of service by the students, such that two types of complaints are most common: infrequent service since the buses depart every 20 minutes, and excessive time losses when transferring from the tram network to the bus line on trips to the campus, with buses sometimes leaving transfer terminal despite students alighting the tram moments before. The transit operator provided us with historic data, and we collected time and passenger data for ten days using GPS data loggers with manual passenger counts by students to determine vehicle utilisation, time utilisation, and schedule adherence. By analysing the data, we determined the possible improvements on the line in the form of changes to the existing timetable and improved vehicle frequency while maintaining the same number of drivers and vehicles. Also, we investigated the possibility of extending the coverage area of the line so that it could not only serve as a feeder to the tram network but also to additional bus lines passing nearby to improve line utilisation.

bus line;City of Zagreb;quality of service;timetable;transit