Public transport in rural areas is under pressure because demand is low and dispersed. To reduce costs, flexible and on-demand services are often proposed as alternatives for conventional bus services. Conventional services are generally not suitable for rural areas, because the demand is low and dispersed. In this paper, a stated preference survey is designed to identify the preferences of rural bus users for alternative services. Other than the traditional bus, two other modes are included in this study: a demand responsive transport (DRT) service and an express bus service with bike-sharing services for last mile transport. Given the on-demand nature of these alternatives, flexibility-and reliability-related attributes are included in the stated preference survey. The results from the choice model indicate that the reliability and flexibility aspects do not have a large effect on the preference for the on-demand alternatives. Instead, cost, access and egress times, and in-vehicle time play a bigger role in individuals’ preferences toward the different alternatives. A sensitivity analysis shows that changes in the operational characteristics can make the on-demand alternatives more attractive. However, many bus users still prefer the conventional bus service over the on-demand alternatives.

Public transport in rural areas is under pressure because demand is low and dispersed. To reduce costs, flexible and on-demand services are often proposed as alternatives for conventional bus services. Conventional services are generally not suitable for rural areas, because the demand is low and dispersed. In this paper, a stated-preference survey is designed in order to identify the preferences of rural bus users for alternative services. Other than the traditional bus, two other modes are included in our study: a demand responsive transport (DRT) service and an express bus service with bike-sharing services for last mile transport. Given the on-demand nature of these alternatives, we include flexibility and reliability related attributes in the stated preference survey. The results from the choice model indicate that the reliability and flexibility aspects do not have a large effect on the preference of the on-demand alternatives. Instead, cost, access and egress times, and in-vehicle time play a bigger role in individuals' preferences towards the different alternatives. A sensitivity analysis shows that changes in the operational characteristics can make the on-demand alternatives more attractive. However, still a large number of bus users prefers the conventional bus service over the on-demand alternatives.