Abstract
The article explains the role of public transport pricing. It proves the need for a systemic approach to building a modern public transit system. The authors argue that the main objective of the approach should be to reduce the use of private vehicles in the urban environment and increasing public transport use. It is proven that for the consumer of transport services the price per trip is an important factor when deciding whether to travel by car or by public transport. The authors analyze the available literature assessing the effects of widespread car ownership on users of the city transit system. Conflict situations that occur due to the unabated desire of city residents to travel by car are analyzed. A research method is proposed. It is shown that public transport fares have been growing in Russia at an accelerated pace when compared to the overall increase in prices of all goods and services, including motor vehicles, petrol and oils. The fare growth has resulted in a 3.6 fold drop in demand for public transport services over the 15 years being analyzed. Over the same period, the number of privately owned cars grew 120 percent. A conclusion is drawn that regular fare hikes have encouraged urban population to gradually opt against travelling by public transport. That resulted in higher demand for car travel and, eventually, in an accelerated growth in car usage. One can conclude that a persistent institutional trap has taken shape in Russian metropolises. Essentially, it means that higher public transport fares have led to lower demand for public transit services. As ridership goes down, public transport operators have to again increase prices, thus driving the demand for their services down. It is proven that escaping the trap will require restoring the ratio of prices to make sure that the price charged for a public transport trip is far lower than the cost of travelling by car. The aim of this study is to assess the influence of the factor of public transport fares on demand for private car usage and public transport ridership.
Highlights
All too often, we underestimate the role of the transport system in the harmonized development of the urban area we live in
Materials and methods The hypothesis of this research is that disproportionate growth of public transit fares, as compared with overall increases in consumer prices, leads to a substantial shit in user preferences in the longterm run: passengers decide against using public transport in favor of private automobiles
As we can see, urban transport policy aimed at ensuring the break-even performance of public transport operators and attracting private business into the sector results in profit making becoming the key goal of the provision of public transport services
Summary
We underestimate the role of the transport system in the harmonized development of the urban area we live in. We usually view the city transport system as a local system for transporting passengers and cargo within a specific area. The real function of the city transport system is much broader; the system defines the look and viability of the modern city. Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd
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