Demand-responsive transport services for disabilities: Factors that contribute to customer churn

Abstract

This research examines the factors that lead people with disabilities (PWDs) to discontinue using demand-responsive transport (DRT) services. The data is based on 11,147 PWDs who have used the DRT service in Daegu, a major metropolitan city in South Korea. We employ the Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) model to estimate customer churn and identify key predictors. Our findings reveal that customer churn is influenced by trip characteristics such as waiting time, destination diversity, and weekend trip rate. Destination characteristics such as education facility visitation rate and medical facility visitation rate also contribute to customer churn. Moreover, we find that PWDs with mental impairments face a higher risk of customer churn compared to those with physical impairments. These insights shed light on the dynamics of customer churn for PWDS in DRT services and offer actionable strategies to improve retention and enhance service quality.