Paratransit as a connective mode for mass transit systems in Asian developing cities: Case of Bangkok in the era of ride-hailing services

Abstract

Paratransit services have been established to mitigate poor accessibility in Asian developing cities. However, their potential role as a connective mode for mass transit systems is often overlooked. This study verifies the hypothesis that, due to the lack of guidance or planning by the government, paratransit services have been driven by market mechanisms to concentrate in areas closer to mass transit stations and other centers of economic activity, including markets. We tested this hypothesis with a negative binomial regression using data on motorcycle taxi services in Bangkok, as a case study. Motorcycle taxis mostly operate as a group, known as a win in Thai, waiting for passengers at certain places, including mass transit stations. Location data on 821 wins were randomly collected from 144 grid zones (= 144 km2) through Google Maps between July 24 and August 24, 2017. Win density was defined as the number of wins in each one-square-kilometer zone. The results showed that win density increased by 4.4% and 25.1% in zones that were 1 km closer to transit stations and markets, respectively, all else being held constant; this confirmed the hypothesis. Policy implications are discussed along with the recent penetration of ride-hailing services in the paratransit market.