Abstract
In the paper, possible pricing structures of flexible transport systems have been investigated. After a brief introduction into demand responsive systems, the currently used pricing systems have been analysed. Having reviewed the conventional pricing methodologies – in line with the average cost and marginal cost based methods – the advantages and the disadvantages of particular systems are presented. What is more, that traditional pricing theory enabled to order costs of flexible transportation systems only approximately to passengers in proportion to their demanded transportation performance, thus traditional pricing framework is not able to fully meet the principle of fairness. For reaching the highest level of fairness loops a fictive unit of individual trips is introduced as the base of pricing. When applying individual loops is gives a unique approach to describe unit cost of the operators especially considering that empty runs are taken into account in a fair way. Beside fairness, it is also an essential objective to represent economies of scale and the preference of early bookings in the pricing methodology. Accordingly, the below presented ‘mixed price system’ had good results in the reduction of average fares related to new travellers and also in the improvement of attraction related to ‘early birds’. Therefore, the goal of this research was to define the direction and the aspects of the development process related to the pricing methods of flexible transportation.
Highlights
It is well known today how flexible transport systems are capable of combining the advantages of traditional, regular bus and taxi services, while maintaining the economical feature of public transportation and the flexibility of taxi services (Horváth et al 2013)
Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) systems are mostly used for the supply of people with limited mobility, as a tool for education-oriented or work-oriented transport processes (Diana et al 2007)
When a new passenger would increase the costs of other passengers marginal cost based and mixed pricing systems would be preferred
Summary
It is well known today how flexible transport systems are capable of combining the advantages of traditional, regular bus and taxi services, while maintaining the economical feature of public transportation and the flexibility of taxi services (Horváth et al 2013). Numerous types of flexible transport systems are known which can be basically categorised according to three aspects: route, timetable and users due to which the flexibility of the systems may vary Such services are not designed to substitute local or inter-urban public transport but rather to complement conventional modes. FTSs have been introduced as DRT service, which are able to broaden a niche market According to this approach, telematics-based FTSs have the scope to bring public transport closer to the flexibility and convenience of private transport, whilst retaining a fare structure more in line with public transport journeys as opposed to the most flexible – but costly – private hire and taxis. The flexibility of each element can vary along a continuum of demand responsiveness from services where all variables of a fixed considerable time before operation (e.g. a conventional public transport bus route) to services whose constituent variables are determined close to the time of operation (Mulley, Nelson 2009). The paper focuses on the new theory, which is introduced through two basic explaining examples
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