External control of the functioning of passenger carriers in the smart city

Abstract

Introduction. The successful functioning of a smart city in terms of organizing efficient transportation flows requires external and independent monitoring in the field of passenger transportation. External monitoring complements the internal control of passenger carriers’ activities in providing efficient passenger transport services in the smart city. Various stakeholders, such as regulatory institutions, municipal authorities, business partners, and the public, are interested in the external control of transportation enterprises, which defines the relevance of the research and allows for the formulation of its purpose.The purpose of the article is to justify the importance of digitization and optimization of external control in correlation with internal control procedures regarding the monitoring of passenger carriers’ operations in a smart city.Results. The study elucidates the correlation between internal and external control, both of which share common control objects, such as the transportation schedule, personnel policies, service quality, revenues and expenses, and public disclosure. These factors also determine the interaction formats of various controllers. A list of data requiring public disclosure by passenger carriers for external control has been identified, including information related to: transportation vehicles (adherence to the transportation schedule for passenger carriers), employees (provision of personnel policies and social protection for employees by transportation companies), transportation costs (public control over pricing in the passenger transportation sector), carrier revenues (accurate calculation of company revenues and accrued taxes), and social commitments (compliance with fair competition practices and fulfilling social obligations taken on by the carriers).The rationale for conducting a rating of passenger carriers using a balanced evaluation system is substantiated. This system involves the calculation of various indicators such as punctuality, personnel policies, fair competition practices, social commitments, financial security, passenger feedback, pricing, profitability, convenience, and transparency, taking into account their respective weights in the overall rating assessment. For top-performing transportation companies identified through the rating, a premium reward system is proposed, while for those with lower ratings, external controllers will initiate inspections and hold them accountable for any identified violations. The implementation of these proposed measures ensures public transparency, accountability, and efficiency in providing socially significant passenger transportation services in the smart city through the interaction of internal and external control mechanisms.Prospects. The use of modern information and communication technologies for enhancing accounting and control requires exploring the prospects of digitizing internal control in conjunction with external monitoring of passenger carriers’ operations.