Sustainability of public transport in rural areas - Case study city of Jastrebarsko

Abstract

The mobility of people in rural areas and low population density areas is sometimes difficult. This may be due to the inability of owning a means of transport as well as the inaccessibility of the public transport system. The development of public transport system in areas of low population density can be significant for ensuring mobility for all users. In this way, the quality of life in rural areas will increase. Numerous studies deal with the topic of introducing public transport systems in developed urban areas. In most cases, such systems have an economic calculation due to the large number of its users. On the other hand, there is a small number of studies that are dealing with the topic of introducing public transport systems in rural areas and sparsely populated areas. This paper analyzes the issue of introducing a public passenger transport system in rural areas with an emphasis on economic profitability and analyzes the economic indicators of the public transport system in detail. This paper also presents a case study of the public passenger transport system justification in the city of Jastrebarsko. Namely, a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) was prepared for the purposes of determining the financial and economic justification of the system and ultimately as a basis for obtaining co-financing from national and European Union funds. When calculating the basic financial and economic indicators of the cost-benefit analysis for the introduction of a public transport system of electric vehicles in the city of Jastrebarsko the influence of all measurable factors, both quantitative and qualitative, was included.