Why do paratransit operators resist participation in bus rapid transit? Case evidence from Bogota,Mexico City,Johannesburg and Lagos

ABSTRACT

Public transport in cities of the Global South is mainly provided by paratransit operators who self-regulate their services in the absence of adequate formal transport supply and due to weak or no formal regulatory framework and enforcement. Paratransit operators compete with each other for passengers as every passenger translates into profit. Governments in the Global South have sought to reform public transport services through Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to regulate and ensure efficiency, address the problems of drivers competition and negative externalities associated with paratransit operations. Paratransit operators have been considered as one of the barriers to public transport reforms such as BRT without much consideration for their style of operations. This neglect has contributed to their resistance and low interest in participating in BRT and has even led to opposition. Consequently, non-consideration of incumbent operators in the implementation of transit reforms has been one important reason for delay or failure in their introduction. In this study, we identify reasons why paratransit operators resist and show low interest in BRT even in situations where public institutions have opted not to replace them but rather invite them to participate in the reforms. The basis is a case study analysis of four cities with different characteristics and different BRT implementation strategies where paratransit operators showed resistance and low interest to participate. We identify (1) loss of autonomy, flexibility and established practices/routines, (2) financial and economic risk avoidance and (3) lack of trust in governments who initiate reforms as a basis for their resistance and low interest. These findings are theoretically substantiated by organisational management and social psychology concepts that explain resistance to change. Understanding and recognising these reasons may help planners in designing more appropriate strategies for paratransit reforms.     

Refining light rapid transit typology: a UK perspective

Abstract

Recent developments in the light rapid transit sector have introduced transit modes that are attempting to imitate the performance of others, e.g. buses with tram-like characteristics. The boundaries between existing definitions of what is a bus, tram or train are becoming blurred. For transport studies and practice this requires a review of how we define modes. This is not just a matter of semantics, but has safety and competition regulation implications for system operators. This paper proposes a structure to produce rail- and bus-based transit mode definitions and typology that are appropriate for modern use. A decision tree is used to classify and define the transit modes as guided-bus, trolley-bus, light rail and tram-train and is provided with example systems. The paper provides a robust definitional framework that allows transit system promoters, operators and other interested parties to have a consistent basis of reference when specifying and comparing rapid transit systems.     

Risk-Sharing in Seaport Terminal Concessions

Over the last two decades, infrastructure development has often been supported by public–private partnerships, particularly under concession arrangements. This paper addresses terminal concession contracts in the seaport sector, and especially the problem of risk-sharing. An effective allocation of risks is the base for the well functioning of the market, and for the success of the ‘landlord’ model. Under this model, the relationship between concessionaires and port authorities is fully dependent on a contract that should be in force for the period of the concession (20, 30 or more years). Based on several Portuguese concession contracts, this paper addresses the issue of risk-sharing agreements. Some policy implications are drawn, namely, alternative contract arrangements to decrease opportunistic behaviour by concessionaires, and to provide incentives to improve efficiency.     

Transport in large cities: a Brazilian point of view

Abstract

Following the historical evolution of urban transport in South America, the authors show the economic, technological and cultural facts that have governed its development until today.

The paper, mainly based on experience in large Brazilian cities, gives facts and figures about some of the most important towns where different approaches to urban transport were tried. Information about other South American countries is also given and discussed.

The article details the evolution, current situation and new plans in Sao Paulo city, describing concession criteria, modal split and the economics of the different modes in operation today and planned for future use, ending with the general influence of Sao Paulo experience of urban transport systems in many other Brazilian cities.     

Container Railfreight Services in North‐west Europe: Diversity of Organizational Forms in a Liberalizing Environment

Abstract

The institutional environment of rail transport has changed as a result of recent European directives, but the changes have taken different forms from one country to another. In the case of international maritime chains, the development of door‐to‐door services makes inland haulage from the loading and discharging ports extremely important, and it highlights the need to reshape the rail freight industry. This paper analyses the degree of involvement of different actors drawn from the maritime industry in developing and commercializing rail services in the changing regulatory environment. Several maritime operators, shipping lines, port‐handling companies and port authorities have been involved in some container rail services since the early days of liberalization. Their commitments take very different forms, however. Whereas contracts are mainly used for the provision of service, particularly for train haulage, integration by means of shareholding or creating subsidiaries or joint ventures is used for marketing. Important differences between France, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands are detailed. In the latter two countries, there is more involvement in the provision of rail services. Marketing rail services appear to be the main strategic issue for the maritime operators in all four countries     

Commercializing management and financing of roads in developing and transition countries

The road sector reforms undertaken by a growing number of developing and transition countries during the past 10-20 years are described. The problems these countries share with industrialized countries and the additional factors that also affect them--large backlogs of deferred maintenance, an acute shortage of funds and dysfunctional road agencies--are also described. The paper then describes how these countries have restructured road management by separating planning and management of roads from implementation of works, provided road agencies with more autonomy, created more effective oversight, introduced annual performance agreements and turned the road agency into a more commercial organization paying market-based wages. In relation to road financing, road tolls and toll roads are touched on briefly before the new style road funds that have recently been set up in these countries are detailed. The paper then describes how they were established and their basic operating modalities--revenues only from charges related to road use (with one notable exception), no abstraction of revenues from other sectors, proactive management and oversight provided by a board of directors that includes members nominated by road users and the business community.     

How to Capture the Passengers’ Point of View on a Transit Service through Rating and Choice Options

Abstract

In this paper, a methodology for capturing the transit passenger’s point of view by using both rating and choice options is proposed. For this purpose, some discrete choice logit models are introduced; the models allow the probability of choice of some alternative transit services to be calculated, and the importance of each service aspect to be determined. The models are calibrated by using data collected by a survey in which a stated preferences experiment was proposed to a sample of passengers, and some judgements were expressed by them about their transit services, in terms of perceptions and expectations. The introduced methodology provides a relevant contribution from a practical viewpoint because it allows the identification of the most important aspects on overall service quality; it is useful to the transit operators for measuring service quality and for investing on the various service aspects in order to effectively improve transit services.     

Impacts of rail transit access on land and housing values in China: a quantitative synthesis

ABSTRACT

Rail transit investment has been viewed as a prominent policy instrument for local and regional development. However, little is known about to what extent the theorised changes in land and housing values arising from rail transit access can be substantiated by evidence in a large developing country context. This paper presents a quantitative review of empirical studies that analysed the impacts of rail transit access on land and housing values in China. We review empirical analyses in 67 studies from 1997 to 2018 for which we encode quantitative results along with a range of theoretically combinations of spatially contextual characteristics, data and methodological-design characteristics. The results show that there are significant variations in the size estimates of effects of rail transit access across studies. Such variations are associated with rail project types, data and methodological designs. Our study provides the insights on what has already been known and what needs to be known on evaluating real estate consequences of rail transit improvements in developing countries.     

Competition and regulation in a new integrated transit system across jurisdictional borders

It is often argued lately that some regional transit systems should be integrated to improve the transit services across jurisdictional borders. One of the important issues concerning this integrated transit system is how to make proper use of the competition and regulation to improve its performance and to increase relevant benefits to the authorities, the operators and the passengers. This paper deals with this problem in a new integrated transit system across jurisdictional borders. An optimization model is used to investigate the competition of transit operators in oligopolistic competition transit market (OCTM). An optimization model with nonlinear complementarity constraints is proposed to guide the competition of transit operators using transit subsidy as the regulation means in system optimum transit system (SOTM). By analyzing and comparing the performances of the integrated transit system in two markets, numerical studies show that the competition mechanism should be made full use of and transit subsidy is an important regulation means that should be valued by the transit authorities in the integrated transit system. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A literature review of mobility services: definitions,modelling state-of-the-art,and key considerations for a conceptual modelling framework

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a comprehensive literature review focused on the supply side of mobility services, providing relevant insights at the conceptual, operational, and modelling levels. Definitions are first drawn from the Mobility as a Service paradigm due to its predominance in the literature. This is followed by an assessment of the operational features of a range of mobility services, including carsharing, bikesharing, ridehailing, and demand responsive transit. To conclude the review, the state-of-the-art in modelling approaches for mobility services is reported, at different levels of complexity and integration. Three of the most important findings and arguments from this paper suggest that a high degree of generality exists for operational features of mobility services; that it is essential to make a distinction between Mobility as a Service and a mobility service in isolation; along with the argument that human agency should be carefully considered in modelling efforts, both for user agent and driver agent decision-making processes. Finally, key considerations are proposed for the future development of a conceptual framework for modelling the supply side of mobility services, which would have a generic service provider model as its core component.     

Cross-sector Analysis of Four Renegotiated Transport PPPs in Portugal

Abstract

This paper uses the Fertagus renegotiation results as a reference and explores the features that made it such a widely commended case, aiming to identify the best practice to be followed in other cases. The two main questions that this paper aimed to respond were: Was the success of the renegotiation process in the Fertagus contract due to mode-specific factors? Are those factors (mode specific or not) transferable to other modes under public private partnership (PPP) contracts and if so, to what extent? Regarding the mode specificity and transferability analysis, it can be noticed that much of the features were not mode specific in theory, however for the successful transferability to other transport modes, some changes should be made to the PPP model taking into account modal specificities and national contexts.     

Tolls,Terms and Public Interest in Road Concessions Privatization: A Comparative Analysis of Recent Transactions in the USA and France

Abstract

Recent concessions in France and in the USA have resulted in a dramatic difference in the valuation placed on the toll roads; the price paid by the investors in France was 12 times current cash flow whereas investors paid 60 times current cash flow for US toll roads. In this paper, we explore two questions: what accounts for the difference in these multiples? and what are the implications with respect to the public interest? Our analysis illustrates how structural and procedural decisions made by the public owner affect the concession price. Further, the terms of the concession have direct consequences that are enjoyed or borne by the various stakeholders of the toll road.     

Not All Transfers Are Created Equal: Towards a Framework Relating Transfer Connectivity to Travel Behaviour

Abstract

Walking from origins to transit stops, transferring between transit lines and walking from transit stops to destinations—all add to the burden of transit travel, sometimes to a very large degree. Transfers in particular can be stressful and/or time‐consuming for travellers, discouraging transit use. As such, transit facilities that reduce the burdens of walking, waiting and transferring can substantially increase transit system efficacy and use. In this paper, we argue that transit planning research on transit stops and stations, and transit planning practice frequently lack a clear conceptual framework relating transit waits and transfers with what we know about travel behaviour. Therefore, we draw on the concepts of transfer penalties and value of time in the travel behaviour/economics literature to develop a framework that situates transfer penalties within the total travel generalized costs of a transit trip. For example, value of time is important in relating actual time of waiting and walking to the perceived time of travel. We also draw on research to classify factors most important to users’ perspectives and travel behaviour—transfer costs, time scheduling and five transfer facility attributes: (1) access, (2) connection and reliability, (3) information, (4) amenities, and (5) security and safety. Using this framework, we seek to explicitly relate improvements of transfer stops/stations with components of transfer penalties and changes in travel behaviour (through a reduction in transfer penalties). We conclude that the employment of such a framework can help practitioners better apply the most effective improvements to transit stops and transfer facilities.     

Mobility evaluation for urban public transportation

Summary

This paper has reported on a study of relative opportunity—not absolute opportunity. Minimum absolute standards for mobility or accessibility are difficult to justify. Some additional study into the development and application of absolute mobility standards may be warranted.

The application of the mobility evaluation model has primarily focused upon a corridor line‐haul system. Conclusions suggest that such a system will not markedly improve existing transit mobility levels in either the peak hour or the off‐peak. The experimental work has verified this conclusion, and more importantly, it has detailed quantitatively the exact levels and spatial distribution of mobility improvements. However, this study does not include a comprehensive analysis of all methods of mobility enhancement, nor does it undertake a comparison of alternative means of mobility improvement. Certainly other methods to improve access to opportunities should be explored before policy considerations are finalized. These methods include other transit solutions, land use alternatives, socio‐economic policies, and other‐mode transportation alternatives. The accessibility technique and mobility indices approach appears to have general applicability in the analysis of optimal strategies for system evaluation.

Of interest is an examination of alternative feeder transit systems to the corridor line. Additional research with the model might point out the maximum mobility effects expected through improved collector service in the suburbs, with corridor line‐haul to the CBD.

The indices are also readily available for a comparison of mobility patterns for different urban areas. Application of the program to transit and socio‐economic data for a set of cities would yield an indication of the relative mobility levels provided. Such data might be considered as an evaluation criterion for future transit funding by federal officials.

In addition, the model is currently being considered by UMTA as a tool to aid in the evaluation of the equitable distribution of transit system benefits as defined in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.²⁵ The mobility output would serve as an indicator of the levels‐of‐service provided to certain disadvantaged urban groups. For this application the computer model is being altered to achieve compatability with the Transportation Planning System (UTPS) computer model package developed by UMTA.     

Transport in Romania—a British perspective

Abstract

Railways restructuring takes place under very different circumstances and with very different goals in Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, and Russia. There are some improvements in productivity associated with the reforms in the European Union (among others access to infrastructure and vertical separation). But they are not certain to be replicated following similar restructuring in transition economies, especially if one takes account of the much higher shadow price on government subsidies in the latter. The current and proposed reforms in the railways of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia are described in detail; the likely outcomes of reforms in the special economic, regulatory and legal environments of these countries are analysed; and an alternative proposal for restructuring in Russia is presented.     

An optimization model for integrated transit-parking policy planning

The optimization model proposed in this paper is aimed to assist city councils (or other transport authorities) in the planning of integrated transit-parking policies. The objective is to minimize the joint operating deficit of the transit and parking operators while ensuring given minimum levels of (motorized) mobility in a city. The key decision variables are transit fares and parking fees. The impact of price changes on transit and car modal shares are described by logit functions of the generalized travel costs. The practical utility of the model is illustrated with a case study involving a midsize city in Portugal.

     

Appropriate mass transit for developing cities

This paper is concerned with the majority of developing nations who lack large resources for public sector projects. It questions the basis of much mass transit planning and attempts to put forward a more efficient way of reaching decisions. It calls extensively on experience of Metro Manila, capital of the Philippines, where an innovative system of metropolitan planning and administration is throwing a new light on ‘appropriate’ investment in such developing cities.

Mass transit systems as currently conceived in such developing cities—fully segregated rail‐based systems—are unlikely to be affordable (at least for many years) and in consequence scarce resources should not be devoted to developing and evaluating them. Rather, the principal objective should be to provide low‐cost, affordable mass transit—affordable to governments and to passengers. This almost certainly points to road‐based systems, or predominantly at‐grade light rail transit (LRT) systems, which are usually regarded as ‘obviously unworkable’ in developing city environments.

This judgement is questioned and it is suggested the potential of LRT to provide appropriate low‐cost mass transit is not being realized. An approach to determining its potential applicability is proposed. If feasible it should be evaluated against road‐based systems before decisions to implement new mass transit systems are taken.

While circumstances vary between countries the central message of this paper—that public sector resources have a very high opportunity cost which make all but the lowest‐cost mass transit systems very difficult to justify—will hold in all but the higher‐income developing economies.     

Experiences with Competitive Tendering of Bus Services in Germany

Abstract

After a long transition period with only a few isolated procedures for competitive tendering, the market for German public transport bus services has seen numerous such tenders in recent years. The results are complex. From the public transport authorities’ point of view, the main effects are a decrease in subsidy payments, with relatively low expenses relating to the tendering process (allocation, contract management). The overall level of competition is high, with five to seven bidders on average, although this has been declining in recent years. Entry barriers have been identified at significant levels for several parameters, especially with respect to the volume tendered and the revenue risk to be borne by the operator out of net‐cost contracts. Demonstrably small‐ and medium‐sized transport operators have been able to increase their market share in the starting phase of introducing tendering, with diminishing success rates in recent years. Due to the increased quality requirements in competitive tendering, the quality of public transport available has improved considerably, and environmental standards have been better implemented and sustained. As far as employees are concerned, a trend towards wages below the wage rate of private operators cannot be observed. However, their level is well below the level of public incumbent operators.     

Integrating vehicle positioning data in quality control programs in public transit: a European perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to show how vehicle positioning data collected through global positioning systems (GPS) or similar applications can be used in quality control programs of public transit operators to better assess the quality and performance of transportation services, and improve them. The paper describes the concept of the integration between quality control programs and vehicle monitoring systems, presents a case study where the concept has been successfully implemented, and discusses the benefits from the adoption of such an approach. The implementation of the concept is characterized by efficiency, accuracy, reliability, and optimization: efficiency in terms of data flow; accuracy and reliability in terms of quality and performance indicator values; and optimization in terms of optimum use of the available information technology infrastructure. The paper places particular emphasis on aspects relating to the interface between urban transportation services, vehicle positioning technology, and policy-making.     

Delivering Value for Money to Government through Efficient and Effective Public Transit Service Continuity: Some Thoughts

Abstract

This paper documents some thoughts on the reform agenda in public transit that is occurring throughout the world. The specific focus is on a growing commitment to competitive regulation through competitive tendering, and the efforts by a few governments (notably in Australia) to take control of the tangible assets used by private operators as a mechanism to exercise the opportunity, if so taken, to put services out to competitive tender. The paper reviews the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence on contracting regimes and asset ownership, and the role that government and the operator might play in a setting in which building trusting and collaborative partnerships has merit in delivering services that are in the main funded from the public purse.