Local Public Transport Research Articles

REINVENTING GOVERNMENT AND RURAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:

ABSTRACTIs the public sector really reinventing itself? Public transportation is a good test because it is highly sensitive to the reinventing government movement now so prominent on our policy agendas. This analysis develops prescriptively useful policy insights from five rural Michigan cases of reinventing local public transportation. The analysis finds that taskforce recommendations are modest attempts at reinvention. Significant change involving interorganizational coordination in a complex service such as public transportation is difficult to bring about. This difficulty is attributed to lack of goal consensus and resource instability. Local policy entrepreneurs, however, possess many more opportunities for promoting reinvention.

Public transport decline in Melbourne: A question of density or service?

Public transport systems in Melbourne and other Australian cities have experienced steady decline in usage over the past 50 years. Concerned commentators and policy makers have debated the likely reasons behind this downward trend. The most widely held opinion is that sprawling low‐density, post‐Second World War urban form is the best explanation for the low levels of usage. However, some other authors argue that low usage rates can be better explained by the poor level of service offered in most areas of the city. This debate has centred largely on comparisons between Melbourne and other cities. Whilst recognising the complexity of this issue, this paper is focused on an analysis of the effect that urban density and service quality have on the operation of local public transport services in Melbourne. The paper concludes that Melbourne's low public transport usage rates are best explained by the poor levels of service quality offered by public transport systems.

Public transport demand in Freiburg: why did patronage double in a decade?

The German city of Freiburg has experienced an enormous and unprecedented rise in the demand for local public transport since the early 1980s. This study investigates the causes of this dramatic increase in the popularity of both tram and bus use. Although traffic restraint measures and improvements in the quality of the public transit service are significant factors, the main explanation lies in the introduction of low cost `environmental' travel cards with the key characteristics of transferability across friends and family and wide regional validity across operators. These season tickets considerably augmented transit demand without seriously exacerbating the operating deficit.

The role of electric cars in Amsterdam’s transport system in the year 2015; a scenario approach

Electric cars may contribute significantly to a reduction in external costs of urban transport. This paper investigates, using a scenario analysis, the necessary conditions for their possible introduction in the city of Amsterdam. First, a background sketch of recent developments in Amsterdam is given, followed by an outline of the potential of, and the problems inherent in, the introduction of electric cars. Four scenarios are constructed by means of the so-called Spider-model. It is visualized in a picture that consists of quadrants and eight axes on which important future developments are sketched on a five point scale. The quadrants represent policy concerns about national and international flanking policies, local economic developments, local spatial policies and public transport policies, respectively. The scenarios used are: ‘Prosperous Amsterdam’, ‘Sustainable Amsterdam’, ‘Pauperized Amsterdam’ and ‘Lonely Amsterdam’, which largely differ in economic developments and in the spatial focus on sustainability issues. These scenarios act as frameworks for the policy development centered around the future adaption of electric cars in the city. Finally, the transport system and the potential role of the electric car in each scenario is investigated. It is concluded that flanking policies at all levels of spatial aggregation, as well as economic development are a sine qua non for a successful introduction of the electric car.

Benefits of Transit in Small Urban Areas: A Case Study

Although the value of transit subsidies is debated at the national level, local decision makers must decide whether it is economically worthwhile to operate transit given the federal and state subsidies currently in place. This issue is examined with respect to a recent study of the economic impacts of the Housatonic Valley Regional Transit District (HART) based in Danbury, Connecticut. The study methodology combined several recently developed benefit classification systems and benefit estimation methodologies. Like many similar studies, the methodology compares current service with the null hypothesis, the discontinuation of transit services. A survey of transit patrons was conducted to examine trip purpose, economic expenditures, and alternatives to HART services. The cost and benefits of local public transportation are examined and quantified. Issues include costs for transit users switching to alternative modes, economic and social costs of forgone trips, accidents, air pollution, congestion, and HART employment, purchases, and capital expenditures. This analysis indicates that publicly operated transit provides significant benefits to a local community compared with costs contributed by the community. The methodologies could be employed using a state or federal perspective to examine the economic efficiency of the transit funding decisions made at those levels of government.

The potential of the electric vehicle. A scenario analysis for Amsterdam

This paper investigates by means of a scenario analysis which conditions have to be fulfilled for a successful introduction of electric vehicles in the city of Amsterdam. First, a short introduction to Amsterdam and electric vehicles is given. Next, four scenarios are constructed by means of the so-called Spider-model. The four quadrants of the model represent policy concerns about (inter)national flanking policies, local economic developments, local spatial policies and public transport policies, respectively. Four scenarios are constructed: 'Prosperous Amsterdam', 'Sustainable Amsterdam', 'Pauperized Amsterdam' and 'Lonely Amsterdam'. It is concluded that flanking policies at both the (inter)national and local level as well as a positive economic development are a sine qua non for a successful introduction and adoption of the electric vehicle. When these conditions are fulfilled, the electric vehicle may decisively contribute to the achievement of a more environmental friendly urban transport system.

Cities, Borders, Distances, Non‐Traded Goods and Purchasing Power Parity

Most empirical studies for the post Bretton‐Woods period fail to find evidence of a long‐run Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) relationship. An investigation into the failure of PPP is made in this study by using disaggregated price data. This disaggregation is on two levels: location (prices from US and Canadian cities rather than national aggregates) and type of goods (e.g., fuel oil, a tradable commodity and local public transportation, a non‐tradable). This disaggregation allows for the testing of the importance of borders (implying an exchange rate), distances, and types of goods in the failure of PPP. The analysis conducted suggests that both country borders and distances play a significant role. However, there is mixed evidence concerning type of goods as an important determinant of the failure of PPP.

Definition and measurement of quality of service for local public transport management

Following in the footsteps of the quality revolution in manufacturing industry, service businesses are awakening to the need for quality management processes. In the U.K., local public transport undertakings are facing a future in private ownership and operating in a deregulated market place. The need to maintain market share and increase profitability has focused attention on quality of service. The paper concentrates on the definition and measurement components of quality management processes for local public transport services. Existing methods based on passengers’ waiting times, lost mileage, expanded sets of measures and indices are reviewed. It is concluded that a single measure is unlikely to encompass all aspects of quality of service. Similarly, indices which collapse measures of different attributes of quality of service into a single abstract value appear to have limited appeal. Instead, a limited set of quality of service attributes can be defined, based on local operating circumstances and th...

An underground bus terminal in Amsterdam: Legal and policy issues

Abstract In many large urban centres, there is considerable pressure to expand public transport interchanges in order to accommodate increased passenger volumes. However, the lack of space in city centres means that innovative solutions often have to be found before such expansion plans can be realised. A particular case is the interchange at Amsterdam Central Station, where there is an urgent need for better facilities for bus passengers. The growing popularity of bus travel has led bus companies to investigate the feasibility of building an underground bus terminal below the harbour area in front of the railway station. This article discusses the advantages offered by this concept and reviews its implications for local public transport policies. Attention is also given to the process of developing the project by obtaining social and political support for it. Finally, the design of the proposed bus station is presented and a number of specific features of the underground situation are highlighted.

Factors affecting European privatisation and deregulation policies in local public transport: The evidence from Scandinavia

This paper concerns itself with the question of the forces behind privitisation and regulatory reform in local public transport in Europe. Two different approaches to the explanation of the changes are presented: the political and the economic. The paper gives a review of current discussions and sets forward the hypothesis that even though there is much evidence to support a process of privatization and deregulation (with a vague rationale), much can be seen as a political process; the real objectives of change can be found in policies in advocating the need for reduced public expenditure and subsidies. Thus, the ideological side of change is weaker than the financial arguments. The paper discusses the process in Europe on the basis of an all-European survey, and concludes that there is no general trend towards deregulation in local public transport in Europe, but a trend towards the use of franchising in certain countries such as Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The Scandinavian experience is dealt with and the results of change of policies are analyzed. The wider implications of regulatory reform in Europe are seen in the context of the development of the single European market, and the need for transport policies to account for environmental problems. All these factors indicate that there will be some change, but more cautions ones, and this again indicates that a franchising solution may be more likely than full deregulation in the European bus industry.

Demand for buses in Japanese medium sized cities

The number of bus passenger has been decreasing in Japan since 1969. The increase in car ownership and development in urban rapid rail network has deprived bus service of passengers. The bus industry has suffered from depression for the last twenty years. However, many bus routes are still operated commercially. The amount of external subsidies is not large. The industry is under strict regulation. The common way for bus operators has been to increase fares rapidly in order to keep their break even condition. The first half of the paper describes present circumstances of the bus industry in more details. Then the second half of the paper treats the estimation of the effect of each factor on bus demand by using pooled data in Japanese medium sized cities. The results suggest that the increase in car ownership has had a crucial effect on local public transport demand and is likely to continue to do so.

Erfurt city and traffic: an example of transport policy and planning in the German Democratic Republic

Erfurt in G.D.R. is a typical example of a socialist city in its shaping and in the development of its municipal traffic. Its general transport plan establishes the priorities of local public transport and involves intensive use of the road network, technological transport equipment and environmental traffic management in the city centre. These measures are explained in detail with examples. Further developments are foreseen in the extension of tramways and in the quieting of traffic.

Operational planning in local public transport using interactive graphic systems

The introduction of modern data processing for the solution of traffic problems was originally accompanied by wholly overrated assessments of the potential fully automated systems. Both developer and user of such systems have revised, or will have to revise fundamentally their first euphoria with regard to the promise of automation. Only in the most recent past has there been acknowledgement that the following fundamental traffic process‐control principles have to be respected: An information system must be structured to cultivate the optimal co‐operative potential in man. The structure and extent of a system must not be based on technical electronic data processing possibilities, but rather on the specific requirements of the process. Concrete requirements for the conception of a computer system can be derived directly from these theoretical fundamentals. Such requirements categorised under the term “Computer Aided Organisation” (CAO), are here described for the preparation of timetables and duty rosters...

Further developments in the pricing of local public transport

Abstract This short paper supplements and updates the writer's Recent Developments in the Pricing of Local Public Transport Services, Transport Reviews, 1 (2), pp. 127–150 (1981). That paper described the situation as at 1980 in Britain, with some examples from other countries. This paper updates the position with regard to four main issues: (a) Impact of the Transport Act 1980 in Britain, which has virtually removed fares control from stage carriage services, and removed all price and quantity control from express services by road. (b) Further development of zonal pricing, travelcards and off‐bus fare collection on urban systems, and the effects of price reductions (and subsequent increases) in London, West Midlands, and Merseyside. (c) Problems concerning the legality of financial support for fares policies in British cities. (d) Following a presentation of work arising from the earlier paper at the meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C. in January 1983, the contrast between British and American policy is reviewed, with the writer's personal view on current policy there. In addition, evidence on certain other points in the text is updated.

Journey pattern adjustments on Sydney's metropolitan fringe an exploratory study

Summary Families migrating to new residential estates on the metropolitan fringe discover that the benefits of the modern dwellings they acquire are offset by the longer distances they have to travel to jobs, shops, schools, health facilities and social‐kinship links. Since adequate public transport services are not available in these areas, coping with this isolation becomes a major logistic exercise hinging on the utilization of the family car. The paper analyses patterns of adjustment evident among one‐car families included in a small‐scale exploratory study conducted in the Campbelltown portion of Sydney's metropolitan fringe. Speculations regarding the nature of families at risk on the fringe are drawn from these observations, and a modified para‐transit system of local public transport is proposed as a possible solution to the suburban transport problem.

Clubs, local public goods and transportation models: A synthesis

Clubs, local public goods, and transportation models are analyzed within a unified model. The emphasis is on the derivation of optimal allocation, pricing and the size of the sharing group. We derive the conditions under which optimal prices will yield surplus or deficit, as well as those under which competitive provision will be efficient. Given heterogeneous tastes we prove that segregation according to tastes is generally efficient although several cases where this result does not hold are also discussed. We show that the existing literature is unnecessarily restrictive and that the unified approach suggested here considerably extends the existing analysis of clubs' local public goods and the transportation problems.

Recent developments in the pricing of local public transport services

Abstract This review examines the pricing of public transport services, taking as its starting point urban and short‐distance bus services. Simple forms of average cost pricing are discussed, and the implications of recent developments in costing techniques (especially those related to peak capacity) are illustrated. An equitable and efficient approach will generally require charging different fares at different periods. Evidence of user elasticity of demand by price is then considered, related to journey length, and other factors. It is argued that the concept of user response and perception is more meaningful than ‘elasticity’ as such, and that the case for systems involving different methods of payment, such as flat fare and travelcard, may be stronger than generally assumed.

THE IMPACT OF FEDERAL LOCAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE UPON TRAVEL BEHAVIOR

Despite substantial amounts of federal assistance to local public transportation, ridership has declined considerably in the country as a whole since 1964, suggesting an ineffective government program. A city-by-city comparison of assistance received with changes in transit ridership shows that declines in transit usage were least in cities receiving the most federal aid, and greatest in cities receiving the least aid. This demonstrates that federal aid has had an impact upon travel behavior. Indeed, it is the single most important factor explaining differences between cities in travel behavior changes in the 1970's.

Integer programming formulation for deriving minimum dispatch intervals on a guideway accommodating through and local public transportation services

Vehicles are dispatched at regular intervals from station zero to station J. Vehicles 1,3, . . . stop at all stations along the guideway while vehicles 2, 4, . . . proceed directly to station J. Stations accommodating local vehicles are off‐line to enable through vehicles to pass the stations without delay. A mixed integer programming model is formulated with an objective of minimizing the time interval between dispatches of vehicles having identical operating patterns. The major constraints provide lower bounds on the headway between successive vehicles at the merge points just downstream from the off‐line stations.