Public Transport Organization Research Articles

An innovative operational model for companies operating bus fleets

The organization and operation of public transport have not escaped the impact of changes taking place worldwide which are driven and influenced by the rapid spread of disruptive technologies and efforts related to climate protection and sustainable development. The challenges posed by the proliferation of electric vehicles (EVs) – including electric buses (BEBs) – require new solutions and new ways of thinking, and a more holistic and innovative operating model for road transport companies using buses. In this model, the authors present a methodology for the delivery of contracted scheduled services that, as part of a systems approach, links a mixed fleet and its appropriate route plan within a data-driven circular operational model, allowing room for innovative energy solutions, the use of renewable energy sources and for satisfaction of increasingly demanding climate and sustainability requirements, all using a logistics science approach.

Incident reporting and data monitoring of sexual violence and harassment on public transport

IntroductionSexual violence and harassment occur in different settings, including public transport, and cause significant harm to victim-survivors' mental and physical health. While sexual violence and harassment on public transport is a documented problem, the public transport sector uptake has been slow and the true prevalence of sexual violence and harassment on public transport is yet to be determined. We aimed to investigate existing public transport and key stakeholder data systems, and explore the views of service providers, to ultimately improve sexual violence and harassment incident reporting and data monitoring. MethodsUsing a mixed methods design, researchers worked with public transport providers and other interested stakeholders in one Australian state. Twelve organizations were involved in the project and six provided current data on public transport safety for analysis. An audit of public transport and stakeholder websites was also undertaken to assess sexual violence and harassment incident reporting pathways. In addition, seven managers from five public transport organizations were interviewed to capture views on gender sensitive data collection and monitoring, and the challenges and enabling factors facing the sector. ResultsThe results uncovered varied sexual violence and harassment reporting formats and subsequent limited reporting of sexual violence and harassment incidents on public transport. In addition, poor-quality data sets lacked gender sensitivity, comprehensiveness, comparability, reliability and accessibility. Three key themes from public transport providers, on sexual violence and harassment data collection included increasing incident reporting, barriers and enablers of collecting and analysing quality data and governance frameworks. A minimum data set collection tool has been developed and could be tested in future. ConclusionTo improve women's safety on public transport, enhanced gender-sensitive data collection and monitoring is required. Long term government investment in sexual violence and harassment primary prevention strategies on public transport are urgently needed.

ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКА МАРШРУТНОЙ СЕТИ ОБЩЕСТВЕННОГО ТРАНСПОРТА ГОРОДА БАРНАУЛА

The development of a city is closely related to the state of its transport system and the spatial organization of urban public transport. In general, a number of transport problems can be noted for the city related to the waiting time for transport, the provision of various areas with urban public transport routes, etc. These problems have become particularly relevant in the 21st century and have become very actively discussed. The article is devoted to the analysis of the route network of the city of Barnaul, as well as the number of rolling stock on the routes. Particular attention is paid to routes where there is a shortage of rolling stock. The purpose of the work is to analyze the current state of the route network of the city of Barnaul and identify problems. The main methods were literature analysis, as well as monitoring public transport using the 2GIS service. In general, it can be noted that the city’s public transport runs stably and interruptions occur due to weather conditions (in particular freezing) or traffic situations (congestion in the morning and evening); there is also a dependence of preferential traffic to the city center and from the city center to depending on the time of day.

Application of a digital solution in the process of planning and organization regional routes

The article is devoted to the creation and use of a software product that helps in the process of organizing the work of public passenger transport (PPT) in regional conditions. Using the program, it is possible to calculate the operational indicators of planned routes, make any changes to the properties of settlements related to the organization of public transport and determine how much they can influence the process of organizing PPT. Also, this software product reduces the share of manual operations and the probability of mechanical errors in calculations. The material in the article is based on the results of research in the field of regional passenger transport. Keywords route network, algorithm, program, automatic solution, regional conditions

Without a car and overnight stay, can a visit to a regional centre be an unattainable goal in Slovakia?

People need to travel for work, education, shopping, recreation, healthcare and other services. Because not everyone owns or uses a personal vehicle for various reasons, pressure is created to organise public transport as a service of the public interest, which is supposed to eliminate the potential transport-related social exclusion of inhabitants from territories with poor transport accessibility. The subject of the study is an analysis of the daily accessibility by public transport of 8 regional (administrative) centres in Slovakia (Bratislava, Trnava, Trenčín, Nitra, Banská Bystrica, Žilina, Košice, Prešov) from all municipalities of their self-governing regions (during working days and Sundays). We pay attention to regional comparisons of the identified spatial extent of disadvantaged areas by public transport and the quantity of the affected population with the potential risk of their social exclusion also due to the existing state of public transport organisation in individual regions.

From dawn to dusk: daily fluctuations in pedestrian traffic in the city center

Pedestrian traffic in a city is subject to fluctuations throughout the day due to a variety of factors. The understanding of these variations can be achieved using properly calibrated agent-based simulation models that capture the dynamics of pedestrian movement. However, despite their significance, such models are currently underrepresented in scientific discussions. In addition, acquiring real-world pedestrian localization data for model calibration poses challenges. To address these issues, this paper presents an agent-based model specifically designed to examine pedestrian traffic fluctuations at a mesoscale level. The model uses popular times data from the Google Places service and population data from the Geographic Information System (GIS) for accurate calibration. As a result, it effectively captures the real-world dynamics of pedestrian movement in the city center. By harnessing the advantages of agent-based modeling (ABM), the model generates several valuable insights into daily pedestrian traffic. It estimates the capacity and speed of pedestrian flows and determines the daily load within the simulated area. Moreover, it enables the identification of bottlenecks and areas characterized by varying levels of pedestrian density. The model’s validation process involves comparing its output with empirical studies and pedestrian traffic data from selected points of interest (POIs). The model successfully captures key aspects associated with fundamental diagrams of pedestrian flow. Furthermore, the dynamics of pedestrians closely align with Google Places popular times data for the chosen POIs. Overall, this research contributes to advancing pedestrian traffic management and optimizing public transport organization by employing empirically calibrated agent-based simulation models.

Optimization and public transport tendering: a case study in Southern Italy

This article presents a multi-start heuristic approach to a design problem motivated by a real-world application in the Italian transport system. Specifically, it focuses on the problem of designing optimal lots in the public transport organization. In defining lots (in terms of number, size, and boundaries) both cost and service level have to be considered. Under certain assumptions, we model the problem as a graph partitioning problem and consider the same performance measure indicated by the relevant decree-law enacted by the Italian Ministry of Transport. The multi-start algorithm proposed for individuating high-quality solutions for the problem uses adaptive large neighbourhood search. The results of a computational study based on real data from a region in Southern Italy are reported.

Assessment of the life cycle of city buses with diesel and electric drive in the operation phase

The aim of the article is to analyze the impact of operation on the life cycle assessment of city buses with diesel and electric drive using neural networks based on source data. Two types of diesel buses and two types of electric buses were tested. As a result of the conducted tests, the following optimal values were obtained for buses: operation time, number of inspections, daily refueling time or battery charging time, general efficiency, emissions. The adopted values of the life cycle assessment criteria are optimal for electric and electric city buses. The presented research and analyzes have a significant impact on the processes related to the organization of public transport.

Risk Management and Public Administration for Entities of Urban Public Transport: The Case of Silesian Voivodeship, Poland

The paper presents risks related to the organisation of urban public transport, broken down to entities and the level of city transport policy, public transport organiser, and operators providing services.

Optimising public transport to increase tourist flows

The paper proposes ways to optimise public transport in order to increase tourist flows to four well-known tourist destinations in the Czech Republic, namely Český Krumlov, Jánské Lázně, Lednice and Macocha, during the spring and autumn seasons. It was found that the quality of public transport infrastructure needed to be improved if tourist flows were to increase. It has been found that tourism development is entirely dependent on the quality of transport infrastructure in order to achieve an increase in tourist flows. A long-term marketing study was carried out in the destinations above with the aim of gathering data on the number of tourists in each of them, the availability of public transport and its timetables, and the needs of tourists in order to improve public transport service. Research has shown that most tourists use secondary transport. This is due to convenience, lack of time, increased comfort, personal requirements and lack of provision of public transport. In addition, there are problems with rail service to some tourist destinations, and the intensity of the bus network varies, which is not convenient for tourists from different population groups. It was found that the capacity of the bus service to the selected destinations is sufficient and can positively influence the growth of tourist flows without increasing logistics costs just by changing the organisation of public transport. Based on the competitive advantage analysis results for the four destinations studied, the weaknesses and strengths of rail and bus transports were identified. Most tourists report that rail transport is more convenient mainly because of its well-connected transport service and affordable prices compared to aeroplanes or cars. It was found that the number of passengers is influenced by the geographic component of the terrain; two destinations (Jánské Lázně and Macocha) are located in the mountains and have a limited infrastructure network due to the undulating terrain, and thus not all means of public transport reach these destinations. It is verified that Český Krumlov is the most optimal of the destinations studied. The study revealed a relationship between the quality of transport infrastructure and the increase in tourist flows to the tourist destinations studied. We propose to develop a model to optimise the transport service in cooperation with a network of tourist information centres. To refine it, further surveys need to be carried out in different directions during the summer and winter seasons.

Responding to online complaints in webcare by public organizations: the impact on continuance intention and reputation

PurposeSince public sector organizations provide services to citizens but struggle with poor perceptions of their functioning, it is valuable to examine how their online responses to complaints on social media could impact their reputation. Yet, surprisingly little is known about effects of public organizations' webcare. Therefore, this study assesses the impact of the webcare's tone, response strategy and user's involvement on participants’ continuance intention and perceptions of reputation.Design/methodology/approachTwo experimental studies (Study 1: N = 424; Study 2: N = 203) with an interval of one week were carried out to assess the effects of singular and repeated exposure to webcare by a Dutch public transport organization on the participants' continuance intention and perceived organizational reputation. Study 1 examined the effects of the webcare's tone (corporate vs conversational human voice (CHV)) and response strategy (accommodative vs defensive); Study 2 contained tone of voice and user's involvement (observer vs complainer). The effects of repeated exposure to the webcare's tone were also examined.FindingsThe results indicate that perceptions of CHV in webcare contribute to webcare as reputation management tool, since it leads to immediate higher reputation scores that also remain stable after repeated exposure. Furthermore, people's continuance intention increased after repeated exposure to webcare responses that were perceived as CHV, thus a natural and engaging communication style, indicating this is an effective strategy for customer care as well. No substantial impact was found for response strategy and user's involvement in the complaint handling.Originality/valueThe novelty of this study is that the authors assess the effects of the webcare's tone combined with response strategy and user's involvement in a public sector context with a sector-specific conceptualization of reputation and continuance intention measured after singular and repeated exposure to webcare.

Evaluating the Performance of Public Urban Transportation Systems in India

Evaluating the performance of public transportation systems facilitates operational improvement and strategic decisions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative performance of 26 public urban transportation organizations in India using various criteria. We grouped these 19 criteria as Operations, Finance, and Accident-based. First, we evaluated the importance of these criteria groups using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Then, we evaluated the organizations (Decision Making Units, DMUs) using various criteria within each criteria group using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Finally, a Transportation Efficiency Number (TEN) was developed that quantified the overall performance of the DMUs considering the 19 criteria. Included is a discussion on the applicability of this approach, thus helping practicing managers understand the lacuna, if any, and set mutual benchmarks and benefits from the experience of others. This approach helps make strategic decisions for policy-making and achieves better results.

Digitalization of Social Infrastructure in the Smart City Development Strategy

Digitalization of the social infrastructure of cities is becoming increasingly important in the strategy of city development and improving the efficiency of municipal management. The purpose of this study is to assess the level of digitalization of social infrastructure as part of the implementation of the smart city development strategy on the example of Yekaterinburg. It is determined that digital technologies have become an integral attribute of the lifestyle of the population. The population actively uses the Internet and mobile communication capabilities. The Internet is especially actively used to search for information, as well as communication, personal and business contacts. The Internet is actively replacing television and radio as sources of information. The reasons that reduce the digitalization of the urban environment are highlighted. A considerable number of respondents indicated the low level of communication between the local population and municipal authorities during the mass survey. The reasons for the weak formation of a digital society are also noted: low level of digital competencies, insufficient provision of computer equipment, lack of automated research systems, lack of affordable high-speed Internet. The directions of improving the social practice of smart city development are determined. In the field of improving the Internet, it is necessary to increase the speed of data transmission, ensure stability of operation, and improve information sites. In the field of education, it is proposed to provide educational institutions with the necessary equipment and appropriate programs, to replace outdated computers in educational institutions. In the field of healthcare, the achievements have been highly appreciated, but a wish has been expressed to simplify online registration in hospitals. Internet services, online payments, e-mail, delivery, and other services were highly appreciated. In general, transport services were also positively evaluated, but wishes were expressed to improve the organization of public transport, observe the traffic schedule, and use digital technologies at bus stations. Residents propose to upgrade bus shelters throughout the city, install more “smart stops”, introduce taxi drones.

The Role of Specificity and Apologies in Excuse Messages Following Train Delay

An important issue in public transport is punctuality. Because delays are often caused by external factors, an efficient way to mitigate passengers’ negative reactions is to point out these factors in an excuse. The current study investigated whether excuses following train delay can be optimized by making minor changes to their content. Specifically, we compared the effectiveness of specific and non-specific excuses. Furthermore, we investigated whether adding different types of an apology influenced the effectiveness of the excuse. The results indicated that specific excuses resulted in more forgiveness and a reduced intention to avoid public transport in the future. Further analyses showed that specific excuses were more acceptable and were therefore more successful at reducing perceived responsibility. The presence or absence of an apology did not influence excuse effectiveness. These findings suggest that minor adjustments to the communication strategy of public transport organizations can reduce passenger loss due to delays.

The impact of public transport on regional development in the Trnava self-governing region

The accessibility of regional centers by public transport in a defined area is a very specific problem. Depending on the organization of public transport, there is a potentially related phenomenon – social transport exclusion. The aim of the study is to express the existence of a relationship between public transport and regional development in the rural self-governing region Trnava. At the same time, we identify municipalities – more precisely areas – with reduced transport accessibility in relation to their regional development and we determine the most advantageous means of public transport for the population who does not have the possibility to use a car. The procedure was to use an electronic database of train and bus timetables to obtain information about the studied characteristics for the return journey during the 24 hours of working days (Tuesday). We found that rail and combined transport have better quality in about half of the region’s municipalities. The Pearson correlation coefficient of product of moments indicated that the value of the correlation between the number of points for public transport and points for regional development is only 0.36, and therefore there is no strong connection between them. However, the individual extreme and average values of these indicators and especially their sub-components have shown us that there is a certain dependence between these values. The results show that despite a lower impact on public transport on regional development, it has a more decisive influence, leading to the strengthening of public transport.

Public transportation business model evaluation with Spherical and Intuitionistic Fuzzy AHP and sensitivity analysis

Business models represent a critical tool for strategic management. It provides managers with a holistic perspective to shape business operations regarding the activity, value, and finance dimensions. This study presents a business model canvas framework for public transportation organizations including an impact element and its external environment. The main and sub-criteria of the model are designed according to the literature under three hierarchical levels. Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (f-AHP) is applied to the model with two extensions which are Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets (IFS) and Spherical Fuzzy Sets (SFS) to evaluate the proposed model. A solution set is also provided with a traditional AHP in order to check the robustness of the former methods. According to the results, the internal environment is ranked as the most important criteria at the first level for all methods. Whereas the activity element is ranked first at the second level, key partners are ranked first at the third level for all methods. The results show that IF-AHP and SF-AHP provide similar global weights but both of them provided divergent results from traditional AHP weights. Sensitivity analyses show that the model is sensitive to expert judgments. This study contributes to the works of both academicians and practitioners in terms of designing and evaluating public transportation business models.

MANAGEMENT OF CITY TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

The article defines the concept of "city transport system" and it’s subsystems. Social and non-social (quantitative and qualitative) indicators of the characteristics of urban public transport and indicators of evaluation of urban transport systems as a whole are described. The hierarchy of the regulatory and legal framework for the management of urban transport systems and directions for its improvement are analysed. The order of managing city transport systems at the macro- and meso-level is schematically depicted, the main tasks of management bodies at these levels and their connections are described. The structure of management of urban transport systems is depicted and its segments are described: financial and economic, regulatory and legal, social, ecological, information, investment and innovation, infrastructural, logistical and technical security. Three basic models of the organization of public transport are distinguished: administrative management model, regulated and free market. The main characteristics, application conditions, advantages and disadvantages of each of the models of urban transport system management in Ukraine are also described. Recommendations for successful management of urban transport systems in Ukraine are provided.

Public transport-disadvantaged rural areas in relation to daily accessibility of regional centre: Case study from Slovakia

The numerous studies demonstrated the close relation between unfavourable access to “goods and services” by public transport (service of general interest) and social exclusion of affected (especially elder, poor, and disabled) people. The problem of “transport-related social exclusion” is closely related to the problem of “transport-disadvantaged areas,” which concerns the spatial organisation of society in terms of transport accessibility and the transport policies of the state, regions, and localities and the range of services provided by transport operators. Rural areas, which inhabitants are isolated or only poorly accessible from the employment possibilities, healthcare, education and cultural facilities in the regional centre, represent serious problems of the balanced and sustainable spatial development of Slovakia. Therefore, the basic aim of the present study is to contribute to an understanding of the extent and geographical distribution of transport disadvantaged areas in economically underdeveloped region of Slovakia - the Banská Bystrica self-governing region - by identification of rural municipalities and areas whose inhabitants are marginalised or excluded from using of the public transport services when travelling to/from regional centre Banská Bystrica. For the identification of negatively perceived “public transport-disadvantaged areas” we use the concept of “daily accessibility” as a decisive criterion for delimitation of territories which suffer from long distances and travel time to the regional centre, and/or insufficient organisation of public transport.

The Structural Relationship between Personnel’s Professional Skills, Internal Control System, and Efficiency of Supply Management of Transport Organization in Thailand

This research aimed to study: 1) the relationship between professional skills and the efficiency of supply management of public transport organization in Thailand and 2) the relationship between the internal control system and the efficiency of supply management of public transport organization in Thailand. A simple random sampling method was used to select supply officers from 267 out of 866 public transport organization in Thailand and the statistics tool used in the data analysis was Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The results show that professional skills were correlated with the efficiency of supply management of public transport organization in Thailand at a high level (r = 0.728) at a statistically significant level of .05, the same was true for the internal control system which was also found to correlate with the efficiency of supply management of public transport organization in Thailand at a high level (r = 0.855) at a statistically significant level of .05. Therefore, the administrators of transport organization are recommended to increase the supply officers’ technical and functional skills and enhance the organization’s internal control system with an emphasis on strictly monitoring and evaluation.

Determinants of social success among female leaders of public transport enterprises

The article presents the materials of the study of social success of female leaders of public transport organizations. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that women are increasingly occupying leadership positions in organizations that were previously headed by men. The following methods were used in the study: diagnostics of the real structure of a person’s value orientations (S.S. Bubnova), a test questionnaire for determining the level of self-esteem (S.V. Kovalev), a questionnaire "Social Success"(M. Melia). It has been proven that socially successful women often have inflated self-esteem. The highest correlation values were noted between indicators of self-esteem and social activity aimed at achieving positive changes in society, acquiring a high status. The also results have a pronounced direct positive correlation. A moderate correlation was found between the indicators of successful women’s self-esteem and "learning new things" and "communication". Female leaders of public transport organizations show a high level of self-esteem and self-respect, have such personality traits as determination, proactive attitude, authority, risk-taking, independence, autonomy, self-confidence. The study will allow to define the determinants of socially successful women in order to optimize and understand the general styles of managing large public transport enterprises.