Stakeholder Value Network: Modeling key relationships for advancing towards high quality bus transit systems

Abstract

Most urban transportation projects are complex as they involve different areas of knowledge and must accommodate conflicting interests of many stakeholders. Although good practices in public transportation do exist, many cities in Brazil and around the world are not able to maintain these improvements due to strong direct and indirect pressures from key stakeholders. The lack of trust among stakeholders has been stronger than the trust between them. Understanding the relationships between stakeholders and evaluating the critical paths are key to facilitating the implementation of improvements. This paper develops a qualitative and quantitative model that represents the stakeholders' network involved in planning, operating and monitoring public bus transportation, and identifies key stakeholders and critical paths for decision-making. To demonstrate the application of the model, we performed a case study in Porto Alegre. We identified 13 key stakeholders directly and indirectly involved in the process. Through the Stakeholder Value Network methodology, it was possible to qualify and quantify 59 value flows between stakeholders that can influence the implementation of improvements in the public transportation system. The results provide useful information to facilitate improvements and in the services provided to the population.