Public Transport Fares Research Articles

Analyzing Large-Scale Smart Card Data to Investigate Public Transport Travel Behaviour Using Big Data Analytics

In urban public transport, Smart card data have been used more and more in order to collect fare automatically. They allowed passengers to access almost all type of public transportation system modes (bus, train, tram, funiculars, LRT, metro, and ferryboats) with a single card that is valid for the complete journey. Although Smart card major concentration is in revenue collection, they also generate massive amounts of passive data from the technological devices installed to control the operation of them. Generated data could be beneficial to transit planners which could rise the better understanding of passengers’ behavioral patterns for short and long term service planning. However, one of the major challenges is the fact that traditional infrastructures and methods are inefficient when processing or analyzing a large volume of data. Thus, as an alternative, big data technology could be employed to enhance collecting, storing, processing, and analyzing the data. Moreover, the main motivation would be cost-efficiency of this methodology as the cost of processing and analyzing large-scale data is huge. This experience demonstrates that a combination of planning knowledge, big data, and data mining tool allows to produce travel behaviors indicators, public transport policies, operational performance, and fare policies.

Vamos para Rua! Taking to the Streets Protest in Brazil

The unprecedented protests that unfolded in June 2013 in Brazil, surprised even the most observant Brazilian scholars. A local conflict over the increase of public transportation fare took an unexpected turn and ignited a massive nationwide mobilization. These protests have perplexed many because Brazil was not experiencing the context of economic or political instabilities that are common to other countries around the world, where massive protests have emerged. Using data from the World Values Survey, we developed a general analysis highlighting individual factors that were significant in explaining protest participation among Brazilians to shed light on possible indicators that could have predicted the recent mobilizations. In particular, this work seeks to understand the extent to which a change from materialist to post-materialist values, as theorized by Inglehart (1971), could contribute towards explaining the recent protests in Brazil. Our findings demonstrate that post-materialist values are a significant explanatory force in determining political participation in Brazil.

VAMOS PARA RUA! TAKING TO THE STREETS PROTEST IN BRAZIL

The unprecedented protests that unfolded in June 2013 in Brazil, surprised even the most observant Brazilian scholars. A local conflict over the increase of public transportation fare took an unexpected turn and ignited a massive nationwide mobilization. These protests have perplexed many because Brazil was not experiencing the context of economic or political instabilities that are common to other countries around the world, where massive protests have emerged. Using data from the World Values Survey, we developed a general analysis highlighting individual factors that were significant in explaining protest participation among Brazilians to shed light on possible indicators that could have predicted the recent mobilizations. In particular, this work seeks to understand the extent to which a change from materialist to post-materialist values, as theorized by Inglehart (1971), could contribute towards explaining the recent protests in Brazil. Our findings demonstrate that post-materialist values are a significant explanatory force in determining political participation in Brazil.

Public Transportation Automated Fare Collection Systems Design

Objectives: The article discusses the development of automated payment systems of public transport fare and accounting of passengers. The main objective of the study is a creation of the concept, which allows us to take into account the practical difficulties of collecting fare, electronic monitoring of passenger traffic and control of public transport routes. Methods/ Statistical Analysis: Design of the automated systems is based on analysis of business process chains and their gradual decomposition. The basis of the study approach is developed from the hypothesis about a universal technical and economic solution that allows us to integrate the autonomous elements of the system. The authors summarize the international experience in the development of similar systems in order to create the best practices. Findings: The study worked out the general principles of the automated fare systems in transport. The paper presents the form of deployment, describes typical solutions for the design and gives an example of its practical implementation. The authors specified a composition of business processes in the system operation at various stages. To assess the implementation prospects, the SWOTanalysis was carried out for the electronic accounting systems of the passenger traffic by using state and multiple vendors’ fare cards. Application/Improvement: The results of the comparative study of the automated systems made it possible to complement the existing concept with internal control components for autonomous elements. The authors suggested the introduction of “stop list” units between synchronization intervals in the implementation of fare transactions, as well as differential risk transfer for the fare fixing by the system users.

Equity in public transport — a case of Bangalore’s city bus transport

In most urban areas, buses are the most heavily used form of public transportation[1] and more so in Indian cities where buses make up for over 90% of public transport ridership[2]. In the selected Indian metro cities, where formal bus based PT systems are operated by public agencies, they are over-reliant on state support to sustain operations as fare box collections are inadequate in spite of having relatively high ridership. The main challenge for all this is to achieve long term financial sustainability of public transport systems while providing good quality and affordable bus services.This paper investigates internal and external factors that led to the steep and recurrent fare increases in the Bangalore city bus services in the period from 2012–2014 which are operated by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation. In order to estimate the impact of the recent bus fare increases that have had on the economically weaker sections of the society dependent on these services, the paper presents the results of a random sampling survey study carried out in a central locality in the city that has a large slum area.The key findings throw light on the various ways in which the low income bus users have adapted to reduce their travel costs through changes in travel behavior, travel pattern and modal shifts. The cost of the behavioral changes through lost opportunities and the cost of the modal shifts of the persons earlier favoring public transportation draw attention to the significance of public transport fare policies. Furthermore, the management and operations of the BMTC agency show scope for improvement which can translate into better revenue generation and consequent reduction in fares.

English

The prevalence of private car for commuting in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja is of concern to transport policy makers and planners because of its negative consequences on both physical and socio-economic environments. This study therefore investigates commuters’ access to public transport using four key indicators (public transport fare, service frequency, walking distance to access points and waiting time at public transport terminals/bus stops). Relevant data were collected from the public transport operators and commuters using a combination of interview, questionnaire and GPS (Garmin 62x), the data collected were analysed and manipulated on Geographic Information System (GIS) Arc-GIS 9.3 environment to show areas with equal mean values of waiting time, transport fare, bus service frequency and distance to public transport access points. The results showed that Gwagwalada and Zuba axis with 58 mean bus frequency per day, average 109 metres to public transport access points, about 20 min mean waiting time in the park and N158 mean transport fare per tip has the best access to public transport in FCT but still fell short of best practices. The study recommended a redesign of public transport routes, bus stops and terminals across the FCT that will reflect its current physical development pattern, while stakeholders should stepped-up efforts to provide enough and affordable public transport services. Key words: Access, points, public, transport.

Impact of a Loan-Based Public Transport Fare System on Fare Evasion: Experience of Transantiago, Santiago, Chile

With the arrival of Transantiago, the integrated public transport system of Santiago, Chile, a new payment method was implemented: the smart card. A critical aspect for smart cards is the loading network. Transantiago had a weak loading network, and, to tackle fare evasion, a loan was given through the smart card to those with insufficient funds, to complete one additional trip. The benefit was active from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. (the next day). No extensive analyses have examined the benefit—specifically whether the operating hours were optimal to reduce fare evasion. On May 1, 2014, an unannounced pilot plan extended the time window of the benefit until 11 a.m. Data analysis showed that this extension could effectively reduce fare evasion, as new smart card users took advantage of the benefit, effectively lowering failed trip attempts of users with positive but insufficient funds, and slightly increasing failed trip attempts by users with negative funds (who previously used the benefit). Estimates showed that 6,000 trips per day were no longer evaded as a result of the extension. On November 24, 2014, the benefit was publicly announced, after which failed trip attempts increased. Suggestions for the future are made to reduce fare evasion.

A Public Transport Fare Collection System with Smart Phone Based NFC Interface

A Public Transport Fare Collection System with Smart Phone Based NFC Interface

Social and Distributional Effects of Public Transport Fares and Subsidy Policies: Case of Madrid, Spain

Despite the widespread implementation of urban transport subsidies in many cities, there are still only a limited evaluation of the equity of these policies and scarce quantitative assessment of their distributional incidence. This research contributes to filling this gap by developing a practical approach to evaluate the impact of fare subsidization on vertical equity. This paper implements a two-step methodology. First, two main indicators were developed to measure the social impact of the travel pass, a highly subsidized fare, to determine the effectiveness of the policy in reaching lower-income citizens. Second, by using the latest disaggregated data from a transportation survey, in Madrid, Spain, a multiple regression model revealed that travel pass usage (TPU) depended mainly on income level and accessibility to public transport. The results show that the accessibility level has a positive effect on the TPU indicator, whereas income level has a negative influence. Because income level is shown to play the most significant role in influencing public transport use, the subsidy policy associated with the travel pass in the city can be considered progressive, since it effectively targets economically disadvantaged groups. This fact suggests that subsidies for public transport in Madrid tend to favor vertical equity.

Differentiating metropolitan transport disadvantage by mode: Household expenditure on private vehicle fuel and public transport fares in Brisbane, Australia

Public transport (PT) has become important in everyday travels in Australian cities. Rising PT fares create a competitive disadvantage against private motor vehicles which is threatening PT ridership. This paper seeks to gain further insights into transport disadvantage by exploring spatial patterns of household transport expenditure on PT fares and private vehicle fuel use for the Brisbane metropolitan area. Several datasets are used to measure mode-specific transport costs, including the journey to work matrix, fuel efficiency of the private vehicle fleet and PT fares for the city. Through an advanced spatial analysis, the results show that PT was not a cost-effective means of transport for households when compared to private motor vehicles. The paper then compares mode-specific trip costs with patterns of suburban socio-economic disadvantage in Brisbane. We demonstrate that the high PT fares increase household exposure to higher transport costs and compound other forms of transport disadvantage and vulnerability, particularly in outer suburban areas.

Mobilização para além das fronteiras: semelhanças transnacionais dos movimentos sociais de origem virtual pelo mundo

In June 2013, the social movement started in Sao Paulo took the streets with public demonstrations in several cities across the country. What began as revolt due to the increase in public transportation fares led to the rejection of constitutional draft amendments, voting bills, and promises of changes in critical sectors such as health and education. Millions of people have joined the movement through social networks, promoting the events, defending ideas, calling friends to join and participate. These movements are not a Brazilian originality, as they repeat similar movements in other countries. All of them have similar dynamics, using the Internet, especially social networks like Facebook, to spread the mobilization and to invite more people to participate, despite the inherent differences of their claims. If, on the one hand, globalization serves to expand and strengthen contemporary capitalism, on the other, it makes popular mobilization possible globally. There is the emergence of a transnational political representation. Given this context, the main objective of this study is to analyze how the relationships between citizens were established in virtual networks and extrapolated the virtual realm so as to interfere directly in the real world. Methodologically, it analyzes news reports of the time of the mobilizations as well as the reactions and responses from the powers that be compared to what occurred in other countries with movements similar in their dynamics, drawing a parallel between them. On the basis of this analysis, it proposes hypotheses to explain the phenomenon and points to possible developments in theories of social movements. Keywords: social movements, Internet, transnational politics.

Envelhecimento populacional, gratuidades no transporte público e seus efeitos sobre as tarifas na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo

In Brazil, students, children under four years of age and people aged 65 and over are entitled to partial or full concessions on urban travel in public transport systems. These discounts are not covered by public funding, but rather via cross-subsidization charged to the other service users who pay the full fare. In this study, the effects of population aging on public transport fares for the next four decades in the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo (MRSP), the largest metropolitan area in Brazil, are estimated. The analyses in this paper are based on data from the Pesquisa Origem-Destino (Origin-Destination Survey), carried out in 2007 in the MRSP, and on official population projections developed by IBGE (the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) and Fundacao Seade (the Seade Foundation) for the years 2020, 2030 and 2050. Considering the different periods of population projection, the technique of direct standardization to simulate expected changes in the composition of public transport trips was utilized, in terms of paying and non-paying passengers. The results indicate that, in the short term (2020), population aging expected to occur in the MRSP should have a modest effect on the total number and age composition of public transport trips in the region. However, if the current cross-subsidization mechanism is maintained, the expected growth in the percentage of non-paying passengers could result in an increase in fares by about 10% and 20% in the medium and long terms. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-30982015000000006

The political economy of public transport pricing and supply decisions

This paper studies the political economy of public transport pricing and quality decisions in a hypothetical two-region federation. In each region there are two types of people: people not owning a car using only public transport, and car owners that demand both public transport and car trips. Each group may be a majority in the region and may also travel in the other region. Under regional decision-making, the political process may result in very low public transport fares, even if car owners are a large majority of the population. Cost recovery always improves with the share of outside users. Second, imposing a zero deficit constraint on regional public transport operators implements the second-best welfare optimum. Third, decentralized decision making leads to higher fares and better cost recovery. Our findings are consistent with very large public transport subsidies in Europe, and with the tendency towards decentralization of public transport policy-making.

A Multimodal Approach for Determining Optimal Public Transport Fares

A Multimodal Approach for Determining Optimal Public Transport Fares

A strategy for increased public transport usage – The effects of implementing a welfare maximizing policy

For a long time public transport has experienced a struggle against rising costs and increasing car ownership. So far, public transport appears to be on the losing side in terms of market shares. The aim if this paper is to investigate if a different policy could result in higher public transport usage and improved social welfare. In order to achieve this, a model, explaining public transport usage, public transport supply and costs, is estimated. The model is then used in order to simulate the outcome of an alternative policy of social welfare maximization. It is found that the current policy of the Swedish transport is not efficient in terms of maximizing welfare. In 2011, public transport fares should have been lower in 20 of 21 counties and the supply of vehicle kilometres should have been higher in 17 of 21 counties. Implementing a welfare maximizing policy would have increased the number of trips per capita by 17.2% in 2011 and by an average of 6.7% for the period 1986–2011.

A Health Impact Assessment of Proposed Public Transportation Service Cuts and Fare Increases in Boston, Massachusetts (U.S.A.)

Transportation decisions have health consequences that are often not incorporated into policy-making processes. Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a process that can be used to evaluate health effects of transportation policy. We present a rapid HIA, conducted over eight weeks, evaluating health and economic effects of proposed fare increases and service cuts to Boston, Massachusetts’ public transportation system. We used transportation modeling in concert with tools allowing for quantification and monetization of multiple pathways. We estimated health and economic costs of proposed public transportation system changes to be hundreds of millions of dollars per year, exceeding the budget gap the public transportation authority was required to close. Significant health pathways included crashes, air pollution, and physical activity. The HIA enabled stakeholders to advocate for more modest fare increases and service cuts, which were eventually adopted by decision makers. This HIA was among the first to quantify and monetize multiple pathways linking transportation decisions with health and economic outcomes, using approaches that could be applied in different settings. Including health costs in transportation decisions can lead to policy choices with both economic and public health benefits.

Agent-based optimisation of public transport supply and pricing: impacts of activity scheduling decisions and simulation randomness

The optimal setting of public transport pricing and supply levels has been traditionally analysed with analytical models that combine the objectives of users, service providers and decision makers in optimisation problems. In this paper, public transport fare and headway are jointly optimised using an activity-based simulation framework. Unlike traditional analytical models that find single optimal values for headway, fare and other optimisation variables, we obtain a range of values for the optimal fare and headway, due to the randomness in user behaviour that is inherent to an agent-based approach. Waiting times and implications of an active bus capacity constraint are obtained on an agent-by-agent basis. The maximisation of operator profit or social welfare result in different combinations of the most likely optimal headway and fare. We show that the gap between welfare and profit optimal solutions is smaller when users can adjust their departure time according to their activities, timetabling and convenience of the public transport service.

Effervescence and Ephemerality: Popular Urban Uprisings in Mozambique

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the large-scale popular urban uprisings that shook Mozambican cities on 1 and 2 September 2010, following the government's announcement of successive rises in the price of public transport fares and basic commodities. Using ethnographic material from the city of Chimoio and the capital Maputo, the following work highlights the organisational character of the ‘strikes’ (greves), as the popular uprisings were called, and explores them as a new form of organising political discontent. Comparing them to other historical and contemporary popular uprisings, this article argues that the strikes violently and rhizomically generated ephemeral and egalitarian forms of political authority and order that simultaneously confronted, replicated and undercut the aspects of Mozambican statehood. Deploying Durkheim's notion of effervescence, the work further argues that the creative fervour, multisemic aspects and festive character of the popular uprisings need to be recognised; thus, this analysis challenges the reductive labelling of these events as ‘riots’ or ‘food riots’.

Road Pricing and Public Transport Pricing Reform in Paris: Complements or Substitutes?

This paper explores reforms of pricing of private and public transport in Paris. Paris has used a policy of very low public transport prices and no road pricing. The Paris transport network is represented as a stylized concentric city with the choice between car, rapid rail, metro and buses as well as two income classes and different transport motives. The model is used to test what are the efficiency gains of introducing road pricing and of increasing public transit prices in the peak. Are both reforms re-enforcing each other or are they largely substitutes? We find that a zonal pricing scheme for the center of Paris combined with higher public transport fares in the peak perform best. The benefits of an overall capacity extension of public transport supply are much lower than the benefits of pricing reforms and could very well not pass the cost benefit test.

Road pricing and public transport pricing reform in Paris: Complements or substitutes?

This paper explores reforms of pricing of private and public transport in Paris. Paris has used a policy of very low public transport prices and no road pricing. The Paris transport network is represented as a stylized concentric city with the choice between car, rapid rail, metro and buses as well as two income classes and different transport motives. The model is used to test what the efficiency gains are of introducing road pricing and of increasing public transit prices in the peak. Are both reforms re-enforcing each other or are they largely substitutes? We find that a zonal pricing scheme for the center of Paris combined with higher public transport fares in the peak perform best. The benefits of an overall capacity extension of public transport supply are much lower than the benefits of pricing reforms and could very well not pass the cost benefit test.