Context Of Public Transport Research Articles

Video-based automatic people counting for public transport: On-bus versus off-bus deployment

Interest in Automatic People Counting (APC) for crowd detection and management is rapidly growing. While a range of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and systems exist, video analytics is emerging as a particularly attractive option — especially for applications where more traditional methods of people counting are not available, unreliable or expensive. In this paper we focus on automatic people counting in the public transport context – specifically, rail replacement bus services – in which bus companies are typically contracted to provide bus services to replace train services during periods of planned and unplanned line disruption. This presents a particularly compelling use-case for video-based people counting, while also presenting unique challenges. Field trials are thus vital to the proper assessment of video-based APC solutions, however remain relatively scarce in the literature. While datasets to support research and benchmarking exist, these do not capture the intrinsic complexities of real-world deployment and the implications of selected configurations — in particular, on-vehicle versus off-vehicle use cases. In this paper, we evaluate our own video-based APC solution, representative of state-of-the-art approaches in the literature, in two separate extensive (i.e, multi-day) metropolitan field trials covering both on and off-bus use-cases. Through real-world deployment of the system in both settings, we highlight key differences with respect to APC accuracy, as well as other practical considerations, and the validity of underlying assumptions in both on and off-bus scenarios.

Factors Influencing Young Peoples ‘ Perceptions of Personal Safety on Public Transport

This paper explores factors influencing perceptions of safety on public transport using an empirical analysis of a survey of young people in Melbourne, Australia. In the literature, some studies disagree as to the extent to which perceptions of safety are affected by actual experience of crime. Some suggest perceptions of personal safety are not justified by actual crime rates, whereas others find that direct experience of unsafe incidents results in greater safety concerns. Related research suggests that psychological factors can make some people feel uncomfortable on public transport and that this may increase perceptions of poor personal safety. However, these links have not yet been tested empirically in the public transport context. In this study, three statistically reliable MANOVA models demonstrated that psychological influences, i.e., “feeling comfortable with people you don’t know on public transport,” had the largest individual influence on perceptions of safety with a medium-size effect. Gender and actual experiences of a personal safety incident also influenced perceptions of personal safety but with a small effect size. Overall, the research suggests that feelings of anxiety and discomfort associated with traveling with people you do not know is the most influential factor driving negative feelings of personal safety on public transport. Gender and actual experience of unsafe incidents were not as important. Areas for further research are identified.

Consumer preferences for operator collaboration in intra- and intercity transport ecosystems: Institutionalising platforms to facilitate MaaS 2.0

The presence of institutional mechanisms to facilitate collaborative activities between operators, and consumer preferences for these activities, have not been studied in the public transport context. Exploring preferences in both intracity and intercity transport options (incorporating long distance transport components such as air services), we use random parameters logit models to analyse integrated travel choice experiments. We show that consumers have preferences for attributes resulting from operator collaboration that can deliver them better door-to-door travel options across the whole transport ecosystem, both in their own city but just as importantly, when travelling to another city. Our results suggest that the proposed method of institutional integration (MaaS 2.0 or CaaS) creates better value for respondents, such that they would be more likely to engage with integrated transport solutions rather than the default option for many, which is the car. Consumers are willing to pay for collaboration activities that inherently arise out of institutionally facilitated interaction between operators and that lead to improvements in their journey. Expansion of institutional integration such as that which may be possible through smart ticketing platforms as an institutional coordination mechanism may facilitate greater development of these features and lead to more integrated travel being chosen by consumers.

Public transport innovation platform boosting Intelligent Transport System value chains

This paper discusses use of open innovation platforms in the public transport context to create more value with shared assets and collaboration. Open innovation platforms allow businesses to develop new, better and more personalized services to citizens. The main result, the Value Ramp, is a new description of value creation of different enabling features of an innovation platform. The result is demonstrated as an added value description of the Living Lab Bus project, but the Value Ramp can be further utilized in other contexts also. With this description, it is easier to demonstrate the versatile opportunities in enabling value creation.

Impact of Public Transport Context Situation and Culture on Mode Choice

Arrival on time when reaching a trip destination is perceived differently by different communities, but the need to arrive at the desired time is essential. This study conducted a cross-cultural comparison of the waiting time reliability of public bus transport systems in three cities in three different countries: Haifa, Israel; Quito, Ecuador; and Valencia, Spain. The objective of the study was to understand and compare the importance of reliable public transport for university students attending classes in these diverse locations. A stated preference survey was conducted that considered the local fares and current travel times for each community. A logit model was designed to detect the importance of the waiting time reliability of bus timing. The values of time and value of reliability were estimated for each location, and the results were compared. The study established that reliability is, in fact, one of the important characteristics when choosing a travel mode (along with cost and travel time) across all of these diverse communities. The results showed that in all of the samples, the Value of Reliability (VOR) late was much higher than the Value of Reliability (VOR) early. Due to the differences between the transportation systems of the distinct countries, this study did not cover all possible transportation variables. An in-depth study, covering other variables, should be undertaken in the future.

How to create functioning collaboration in theory and in practice – practical experiences of collaboration when planning public transport systems

The creation of an efficient public transport system increasingly requires collaboration between independent organizations. Institutional reforms in Europe have created governance situations where collaboration between organizations is a critical issue, and examples include the integration of transport and land-use planning and the planning of large public transport projects. The organizational context of public transport, with several formal, discrete organizations that need to collaborate, raises questions about how functioning collaborations can be accomplished. This paper examines how to create functioning collaboration between organizations in the public transport sector. We depart from a theory of collaboration as a stepwise trust-building process, and we present results from a comparative case study of collaboration in two Swedish public transport projects. The results show some of the prerequisites that must be in place in order for the collaboration to work, but also the boundaries of what collaborative approaches can bring about. Conditions such as honest, open, and inclusive dialog between stakeholders and resources in the form of finance, knowledge, mandate, and leadership are important. While there is no guarantee that this will lead to differences in interests being resolved, the results indicate that it improves the chances of finding compromises that all of the involved stakeholders can accept, especially if favorable conditions for collaboration are established at an early stage of the planning process. Building on these findings, we suggest some practical recommendations for improving collaboration in future public transport projects. These practical recommendations are aimed at improving the handling of unavoidable conflicts in collaboration in a constructive way.

Modelling travel time reliability in public transport route choice behaviour

The implementation of travel time reliability (TTR) in route choice behaviour is still not very common in transport models, especially not in a public transport context. The reasons probably are that it is difficult to measure and that there is no agreement how it best can be represented in utility functions. Typically, it is represented by a standard deviation, however, particularly in public transport choices it is more likely that travellers think about the consequences of unreliability in travel times in terms of buffer times. This paper contributes to the literature by comparing five different model specifications of TTR in public transport route choices that are either based on standard deviations or on buffer time indicators. The models are estimated from choices observed in a stated choice experiment. To address heterogeneity, a latent class model is estimated. The results suggest that the reliability buffer time indicator outperforms the standard deviation indicator. Furthermore, the reliability buffer time parameter is only statistically significant in two of the four classes. The other two classes are particularly sensitive to making transfers and to low frequencies of public transport services, suggesting different strategies to deal with TTR.

A theoretical analysis of business models for urban public transport systems, with comparative reference to a Community Franchise involving Individual Line Ownership

This paper reviews existing business regimes in public transport in the broad areas of economic theory of competition, ownership and regulation. It then contrasts those existing regimes with the specific case of a Community Franchise (CF) business regime with Individual Line Ownership (ILO), as currently exists in the ski lifting industry and as it may potentially be transferred to an urban public transport context. Traditional economic theory is supplemented by considering theories from human psychology, complexity theory and the evolutionary effects from more traditional theoretical understandings of equilibrium economics. This theoretical review highlights the idiosyncrasies of the CF/ILO business regime. Existing regimes are shown to have incentives that do not necessarily benefit consumers of transport services, but are conducive to unintended outcomes shaped by political and commercial forces. The CF/ILO regime, because of its particular structure, is shown to be less prone to these same forces and more responsive to consumer demands with potential benefits for passengers and government transport objectives. As well there is shown to be more incentive in the CF/ILO to manage capital expenditure in a prudent fashion.

Indigeneity of transport in developing cities

ABSTRACTThis paper offers an alternative conceptualization of informality within the transport sector. While it shows that informal transport is a far from trivial component of urban economies, it also highlights the sometimes problematic use of informality to homogeneously describe various public transport modes within the Southeast Asian transport landscape. It initially reviews a number of contested assumptions in the informality discourse within the context of public transportation in developing cities. It then proposes the concept of indigenous transport as a potential alternative, arguing that such perspective may better acknowledge and describe the mode's local and vernacular qualities as well as its complementary and supplementary functions. For the purposes of this paper, indigenous transport is described to pertain to those modes that respond to local demand, evolved based on local conditions and endemic to local mobility cultures. The indigenous transport framework aims to elucidate the five key characteristics of indigenous transport modes from a transport user's perspective. This is supported by an empirical study conducted in three Southeast Asian developing cities of varying geographical scales, namely Baguio (Philippines), Bandung (Indonesia) and Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) to provide evidence that a transport user's prism will and can authentically present an alternative version of informality, and assist in painting an overall picture of the role of indigenous transport within the transport system of developing cities.

The Integrated Model on Mobile Payment Acceptance (IMMPA): An empirical application to public transport

This study examines the users’ acceptance and usage of mobile payments, focusing on the mobile ticketing technologies applied in a public transport context. We investigate the main predictors of the intention to use mobile ticketing and the relation between those predictors, considering the prominent literature on users’ technology acceptance background and extending the knowledge through an innovative contribution. The main models of reference in this study are the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Diffusion of Innovation Model (DOI) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. The new model that we proposed is called the Integrated Model on Mobile Payment Acceptance (IMMPA), and it was designed specifically for mobile payments in the public transport, on the basis of the models previously mentioned. It was developed by mixing the variables of the existing models and adding new ones tailored to the mobile payment/ticketing framework. The theoretical framework was tested using the Structural Equation Models. The results show that the intention to use a technology is affected by the Usefulness, Ease of use and the Security of that technology. Moreover, the Usefulness is simultaneously influenced by the Ease of use, the Compatibility with users’ values and needs and their Attitude towards mobile services. Furthermore, the model confirms the direct relation between the intention to use a technology and its actual usage. The new predictor, that is the Attitude towards mobile services, includes those requirements that every mobile ticketing payment must address in this context: complete information, further information about time and delay, speed of use, intuitive interface, and path customisation. Another new construct detected is the Security, in reference to mobile payment. Because it could represent an obstacle to mobile ticketing distribution, it must be considered by market operators. The originality of the paper addresses the realisation of a new model, the IMMPA, which was specifically designed for mobile payment in the public transport.

New Path Size Formulation in Path Size Logit for Route Choice Modeling in Public Transport Networks

The path size logit (PSL) aims at capturing correlations between path alternatives by including a correction term, path size, to the multinomial logit (MNL). Several path size formulations have been proposed in the literature and applied to various route choice models extensively in road networks. However, the path size formulation has rarely been studied in the public transport context considering the special characteristics of the public transport network. This paper proposes a new path size formulation for route choice modeling in public transport networks. The new path size formulation accounts for both the correlation attributed to spatial overlapping of path alternatives and the correlation attributed to frequency variations. Direct application of existing path size formation in route choice model estimation and prediction based on smart card data from the Singapore public transport network were used in a comparative analysis of the new path size formulation against an MNL and a base PSL. The results show that the new path size formulation has outperformed other models in both estimation and prediction.

Privacy-Preserving Design of Data Processing Systems in the Public Transport Context

The public transport network of a region inhabited by more than 4 million people is run by a complex interplay of public and private actors. Large amounts of data are generated by travellers, buying and using various forms of tickets and passes. Analysing the data is of paramount importance for the governance and sustainability of the system. This manuscript reports the early results of the privacy analysis which is being undertaken as part of the analysis of the clearing process in the Emilia-Romagna region, in Italy, which will compute the compensations for tickets bought from one operator and used with another. In the manuscript it is shown by means of examples that the clearing data may be used to violate various privacy aspects regarding users, as well as (technically equivalent) trade secrets regarding operators. The ensuing discussion has a twofold goal. First, it shows that after researching possible existing solutions, both by reviewing the literature on general privacy-preserving techniques, and by analysing similar scenarios that are being discussed in various cities across the world, the former are found exhibiting structural effectiveness deficiencies, while the latter are found of limited applicability, typically involving less demanding requirements. Second, it traces a research path towards a more effective approach to privacy-preserving data management in the specific context of public transport, both by refinement of current sanitization techniques and by application of the privacy by design approach.

Reliability Equivalence in Public Transport Contexts

This work provides initial investigation into whether equivalence between the mean-variance and scheduling approaches to transport reliability can be applied in the context high frequency public transport services. Each of these approaches is briefly outlined and the current work is framed by previous research attempting to demonstrate equivalence: both theoretically and empirically. The basic assumptions underpinning the theoretical approach to equivalence are explored and then re-formulated based upon which variables are likely to be known. The concept of headway is introduced to the theoretical approach using notation from previous research in order to represent public transport services. An empirical illustration of the method is undertaken using smart card data obtained from the London Underground metro system. The data are combined with timetable data and a previously developed method for estimating passenger preferred arrival times, which in turn allows the theoretical equivalence between mean-variance and scheduling approaches to be tested empirically. This is initially performed for a single origin-destination (OD) pair and then for 23 other ODs of varying headways. The example using a single OD demonstrates that even for a high frequency metro service, application of the theoretical equivalence is problematic, with variable parameters substantially affected. In the case of many ODs, a linear relationship is observed between the ratio of public transport to standard scheduling parameters and headway, suggesting the theoretical equivalence becomes less viable as headway increases. At the lowest values of headway, it is concluded that the equivalence remains problematic and further work is required before equivalence between the mean variance and scheduling approaches can be implemented in the public transport context.

Transforming the service idea – a communication and learning process

Purpose– This paper is about service innovation processes and especially about how an idea about a new service proposition is realized and gradually transformed during the process. The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the process by which the idea of what should be developed is formed.Design/methodology/approach– Empirically this study is built on two case studies from the public transport context. The cases studied are long-term and involves a number of different actors from different organizations put together to deliver a new system solution regarding information- and ticketing systems.Findings– The findings indicate that the service ideas gradually develop throughout the service innovation process; some of the changes are that distinct that they could be described as turning points. The reasons for the changes of the ideas are sometimes the renewed awareness that the involved actors get from communicating and learning from each other's, other times the turning points occur as a result form confrontation with the outside world, and what is their perceived as necessary and possible to do.Originality/value– The study is novel in several respects: the notion of the transformation of the service idea during a service innovation process is introduced; it provides an empirical analysis of the knowledge transformation process during a service innovation process, and it applies traditional innovation perspective in a new context.

Hybrid steering cultures in the governance of public transport: A successful way to meet demands?

This paper concerns steering aspects in the governance context of public transport. Various theoretical views of steering have been presented over the years, and it has been argued that a multiple-principal context often leads to fragmented steering. The paper aims to identify steering culture models found among principals operating in the same public transport context, and to explain how a successful procurement outcome is possible, despite the hybrid of steering cultures. The paper is based on an empirical analysis of a Swedish county's planning process that resulted in a very successful procurement outcome that met high environmental and safety standards at a relatively low cost. This procurement was seen as a triumph by principals. The findings presents the existence of various steering cultures among the principals, leading to the conclusion that a “metagovernor,” in this case the PTA, is central to achieving successful outcomes. The metagovernor designed the planning process and formulated a procurement document that satisfied the principals. In this process, the metagovernor negotiated separately with each principal, focusing on the particular characteristics of each principal.

Introducing Transit Preferential Treatment: Is a Political Maverick Necessary for Public Transportation to Innovate?

Buses, and more generally at-grade public transportation, remain the most important component of transit services in all urban areas but the steady increase in travel demand, especially in private automobiles, has resulted in a growing level of congestion, affecting both cars and public transportation. The innovative introduction of preferential treatment is surprisingly not generalized in spite of its benefits, raising the question of whether preferential treatment is transferable. By applying the agenda-building theory to the context of public transportation, the paper outlines how innovative policy making can be introduced and determines if the presence of a policy entrepreneur is a necessary and sufficient condition. Using 11 cities in Europe and America as case studies, essential elements have been identified for addressing public reaction, institutional fragmentation, and the stance of decision makers. It can be concluded that the rising concerns about transportation and the emergence of mixed decision-making models allow cities to implement preferential treatment without a policy entrepreneur.