Passengers’ perceptions of safety in paratransit in the context of three-wheeled electric rickshaws in urban India

Abstract

The electric rickshaw is a battery-powered three-wheeled paratransit that has gained popularity in urban India due to its flexible service and affordability. It is an environment-friendly and energy-efficient paratransit mode of transport. However, there remain serious concerns about the safety of its occupants in the heterogeneous traffic conditions prevailing in India. This paper presents a preliminary study to understand passengers’ perceptions of electric rickshaw safety in Patna, India. Such a study is important to design safer vehicles, promote safe driving behaviours, and create a safer driving environment. The study applies descriptive and econometric analyses to investigate the safety perceptions of 388 participants. The results reveal that there are two latent constructs associated with passengers’ attitudes towards safety, unsafe vehicle structure and unsafe vehicle dynamics. The first construct includes statements related to the structure of electric rickshaws such as an unstable body, the lack of rear-end protection, and absence of solid railings and coverings. The second construct includes statements concerning dynamic aspects of the rickshaw, such as fear of overturning and reckless driving. Further, this study finds that passengers’ perceptions of both safety constructs vary based on individual and household characteristics. The results suggest that females, older individuals, and high-income passengers are strongly dissatisfied with the unsafe structure and dynamics of the vehicle. Individuals from car-owning households display greater concern about the unsafe vehicle dynamics than those from non-car owning households,. Finally, the study estimates an empirical model to explore the overall safety perceptions of electric rickshaw riders. The model highlights that participants attach equal importance to both safety constructs and that there is no individual-level variation regarding the overall safety assessment of passengers, as reinforced by the statistical insignificance of socio-demographic characteristics.