Public Transport Companies Research Articles

Service Quality and Passengers’ Loyalty of Public Transportation Companies

This study examined service quality and passengers’ loyalty of public transportation companies. It was carried out to determine the effects of passengers’ safety, passengers’ comfort, drivers’ competence, travel time and vehicle cleanliness on passengers’ loyalty of public transportation companies. The study adopted cross-sectional survey research design. Primary data were obtained from 228 passengers of public road transportation companies using an adapted structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics while multiple linear regression was adopted to test the hypotheses of the study with the aid of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 23) software. The findings of the study revealed that passengers’ safety, passengers’ comfort, drivers’ competence and vehicle cleanliness had significant positive effects on passengers’ loyalty of public transportation companies, while travel time had a non-significant effect on passengers’ loyalty in this regard. Therefore, the study concluded that, to a large extent, service quality has a significant positive influence on passengers’ loyalty of public transportation companies. Practical implications and suggestions for further studies were made consequently.

Public transport strategy and epidemic prevention framework in the Context of Covid-19

As countries across the world modify their travel in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the first casualty becomes the public transport sector. Transport authorities across the world have reported about 95% reduction in users during peak COVID-19, decrease of fare box revenues and additional costs for disinfecting and implementing physical distancing measures. The public transport companies in India face a larger crisis as nearly 85% people travelling intercity use public road transport in normal times. In this paper we drawpassenger clusters based on their travel dynamics and develop two frameworks, namely, passenger driven transportation strategy framework and epidemic prevention strategy framework to deal with the COVID-19 induced travel changes. The frameworks use three tenets of mobility, namely, agility, integrated movement, and public based partnership. The strategies aim to enable the transport enterprises to open new windows of travel and efficiencies for the passengers rather than restricting access and choices. However, security remains fundamental to making these new and innovative service changes possible.

THE LEGAL LIABILITY OF ONLINE DRIVER FOR PASSENGERS ACCIDENT IN CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW

Online motorcycle taxis have become a favorite public transportation for some people because they are flexible in their activities, can reach places that are not passed by public transportation such as city transportation (public transport), buses, or other types of four-wheeled public transportation. One of the losses experienced by passengers or motorcycle taxi service users is the occurrence of accidents caused by the mistakes of motorcycle taxi drivers. Legal certainty to provide protection to consumers in the form of protection of consumer rights, so that business actors do not act arbitrarily which always harms consumers. The research method used is normative juridical. The results of this study are that most of the Indonesian online motorcycle taxi companies use motorbikes as their means of transportation and receive payment for the services provided, not in accordance with what is stipulated in UULAJ and Government Regulation Number 74 of 2014 concerning Road Transportation. In order to operate the transportation of people not on a route using a public motorized vehicle, the public transportation company is required to have a license to operate the transportation of people not on a route which must meet the requirements. Legal protection for online motorcycle taxi passengers when an accident occurs is divided into 2, namely preventive and repressive legal protection.

Influence of Socio-Cultural Attributes on Stigmatizing Public Transport in Saudi Arabia

Several factors over the years have contributed to stigma in public transport. Many studies have highlighted the need to make the transport system more equitable both from economic and gender perspectives. This study attempts to demonstrate how the perceptions of public transport users and non-users are stigmatized from social and cultural standpoints. Thus, it identifies the social and cultural stigma-induced barriers embedded with the use and people’s general perception about the public bus service, taking SAPTCO (Saudi Public Transport Company) as a case study. The study results suggest that privacy concern is the primary cause of stigma. Most of the users are unwilling to ride with their families as SAPTCO does not account for gender needs (e.g., privacy, travel convenience, safety, comfort, etc.). Moreover, people from the high-income classes are more stigmatized against this ridership. A fuzzy inference system (FIS) model is used to analyze the survey questionnaire responses and understand what stigma means for the public bus service. Expert opinions are employed to generate “if–then” rules of the FIS models. Sensitivity of the defined fuzzy model is conducted to different aspects of the ridership. The study results further suggest that “inconvenience” poses the highest impact while “feeling safe”, “privacy”, “fare”, “timing”, and “comfort” are found to be the medium impact-making variables for stigma. The stigma-defining variables would be critical for the public bus service to improve its service quality and help (re-)design the policies that would attract a high amount of ridership. Some solutions are suggested in the end that would complement, strengthen, and promote the current SAPTCO service. The demonstrated methodology of this study would be relevant and adaptive to any relevant context to improve public transportation service and pertaining policies.

AntibotV: A Multilevel Behaviour-Based Framework for Botnets Detection in Vehicular Networks

Connected cars offer safety and efficiency for both individuals and fleets of private vehicles and public transportation companies. However, equipping vehicles with information and communication technologies raises privacy and security concerns, which significantly threaten the user’s data and life. Using bot malware, a hacker may compromise a vehicle and control it remotely, for instance, he can disable breaks or start the engine remotely. In this paper, besides in-vehicle attacks existing in the literature, we consider new zero-day bot malware attacks specific to the vehicular context, WSMP-Flood, and Geo-WSMP Flood. Then, we propose AntibotV, a multilevel behaviour-based framework for vehicular botnets detection in vehicular networks. The proposed framework combines two main modules for attack detection, the first one monitors the vehicle’s activity at the network level, whereas the second one monitors the in-vehicle activity. The two intrusion detection modules have been trained on a historical network and in-vehicle communication using decision tree algorithms. The experimental results showed that the proposed framework outperforms existing solutions, it achieves a detection rate higher than 97% and a false positive rate lower than 0.14%.

LOWERING THE INFLUENCE ON THE ENVIRONMENT - PROJECT OF CHANGING THE BUS FLEET IN GPP OSIJEK

Purpose: Public transport is one of the bigger causes of air pollution, but at the same time use public transport helps in lowering the use of personal transport and with that, it lowers the pollution and influence on the environment. Air pollution is significantly influencing the environment and the public transport companies are looking for different ways to reduce air pollution. Thus, the transport companies need to pay attention to their activities and modernization of the fleet to lower their influence on air pollution. Design/Methodology/Approach: In the writing of this paper we used mainly desk research method for the literature review and case study method for presenting the project of the transport company. Findings and implications: GPP Osijek has started a project of fleet modernization which consists of the purchase of 12 new modern city buses which have a lower influence on the environment regarding air pollution. Besides this company is making additional steps in reducing their influence on the environment and testing hybrid fueled buses. In the next period, authors recommend conducting research on environmental influence regarding air pollution and possibly lowering the noise pollution. Limitations: This paper main limitation is that there are still no results in how much the influence on the environment has been lowered and this should be studied in the future. Originality: This paper presents one of the first research studies about environmental management in public transport companies in Croatia.

Assessment of investment in electric buses: A case study of a public transport company

Abstract This case study presents an assessment of the efficiency and risk of the vehicle fleet renewal in the public transport company. The investment project is solved in two alternatives. The first alternative consists of vehicle replacement by only electric buses. In the second alternative, a combination of electric buses and CNG buses is considered. Assessment of the economic efficiency of the investment project is based on the net present value (NPV). Due to lower initial and ongoing capital expenditures, the second alternative is more cost-effective than the first one although the profitability of the investment project is low. Within risk assessment, sensitivity analysis points out the subsidy and personal costs as the risk factors influencing variance of NPV the most. Finally, the effectiveness of the investment project is assessed at different levels of the use of financial support from EU funds and the state budget. In that case, even a low level of financial support significantly increased the profitability of the project.

COVID-19 and public transport demand trends in Sicily: analyzing external factors and governmental recommendations

The year 2020 has brought changes in transport services and travel demand globally due to restrictions related to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in public transport. The present work focuses on Sicily (Southern Italy). Through the elaboration and administration of an online questionnaire, a sample of 700 regular public transport users was characterized from a socio-demographic point of view, identifying their travel habits, and their opinion on governmental and public transport company initiatives. Eight (8) national government strategies were evaluated on a Likert scale, and ten (10) pandemic mitigation factors were assessed in different phases of the pandemic, highlighting which of these factors were most preferred by the sample on a hierarchical scale. The results lay the groundwork for identifying critical challenges when dealing with such severely restricted mobility conditions and suggesting improvements for public transport agencies and local authorities.

Does capacity utilisation influence financial performance? A study of Indian public bus transport companies

PurposeThe objective of the paper is to get a better understanding of capacity utilisation (CU) in Indian public bus companies. More specifically, this paper would be measuring CU and identifying the drivers of the same. Finally, the influence of CU on the financial performance of Indian bus companies is examined.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the CU in Indian public bus companies. Truncated regression was used to identify the drivers of CU. Subsequently, the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to analyse the influence of CU on Indian bus companies' financial performance. The period of study was from 2013 to 17.FindingsThe significant drivers of CU were fleet age, passenger lead and fleet utilisation. Additionally, it was found that CU had a significant positive influence on the financial performance of Indian public bus companies and a unit increase in unused capacity has led to an increase of 7% in the operating ratio of the bus companies.Practical implicationsGetting insights into CU, apart from technical efficiency, is of immense use to both public transport researchers and practitioners. Managers of public bus companies should be mindful of CU as it has a significant bearing on their financial performance.Originality/valueThis is the first study in public transport, which establishes the linkage between CU and financial performance. Besides, a modified measure of cost-efficiency has also been conceptualised in this study.

Possibilities of Porosity Repairs after Aluminium Alloys Welding

This article describes problems of porosity which are caused after welding of aluminium alloys. The main part of this article is dedicated of methods of correction of porosities. The best correction is by welding or by cementation. Described parts are used for welded aluminous vehicle parts in a cooperative company. Thanks to porosity are effected not only ductility and strength of welded structures but also weld quality thereby fall also resulting in surface treatment. Cooperative company is ranked among the world's leaders in development and production automatic, electro-pneumatic and electrically operated door systems for rail vehicles and traffic island as ramps, plateaux 'sand stairs. Staffs of this company have years' experience in the area of welding rail vehicle parts from aluminous alloys. A company has a certificate on welding rail vehicles and their compo-nents according to standards EN ISO 15085- 2. For public transport company produce sliding doors, driving and inner and among - wagon doors. The same types of doors offer for long-distance transportation and also for high-speed trains. Further, they produce traffic islands, for example, extensible ramp, extensible plat-eaux, foldaway climbs and bridging, everything is produced from aluminous alloys.

The Effect of Employee Engagement and Job Satisfaction on Workforce Agility Through Talent Management in Public Transportation Companies

This study aimed to analyzed employee engagement and job satisfaction with workforce agility through talent management as a mediating variable. The object of research was carried out at one of the public transportation companies. The number of respondents was 100 people. This research is purposive because it is following the research needs. The analysis tool uses the Partial Least Square (PLS) method. It aims to analyze specifically the variables and indicators that affect workforce agility. The results showed that employee engagement and job satisfaction had a positive effect on workforce agility. The role of talent management as a mediating variable affects workforce agility. Organizations must maximize the role of talent management to prepare employee competencies according to business challenges. The implementation of employee engagement and job satisfaction will make employees more agile, responsive, and have high initiatives to generate business innovation. Job satisfaction is very much needed in maintaining performance stability. The business process is very dependent on how the role and involvement of employees in executing the business plan. The four variables explain that workforce agility makes employee responsiveness higher in advancing the company's business. Therefore, organizations must be responsive and adaptive in empowering human resources optimally

Bus crash risk evaluation: An adjusted framework and its application in a real network

Greater attention to bus safety can lead to relevant benefits for public transport companies in terms of higher service performance, reliability, and lower insurance costs. Therefore, measuring the crash risk on bus routes provides an opportunity to improve the safety performance of transit operators. Previous research has explored the effects of many factors regarding the frequency and severity of bus crashes, whereas only a handful of studies have defined some crash risk indexes. Conversely, to the best of our knowledge, almost no research has been done regarding the crash risk in the bus transit network that integrates frequency, severity, and the exposure factors. This paper proposes a new framework to assess the crash risk for each transit bus route by the integration of safety factors, prediction models and risk methods. More precisely, this framework identifies several safety factors and specifies the risk components in terms of frequency, severity and exposure factors that may affect bus crashes. Then, it models their relationships to build a bus crash risk function. Lastly, according to the values returned by the previous function, the crash risk for each route is computed and a safety performance ranking for each route is provided. The feasibility of this framework is demonstrated in a real case study by using bus crash data provided by a mid-sized Italian bus operator. The findings show that transit managers could implement this framework in a road traffic safety management system to evaluate the risk of crashes on routes, monitor the safety performance of each route and qualify each route according to recent safety norms.

Investigation of the effectiveness of antimicrobial photocatalyst-coated hand-contact surfaces in passenger transport vehicles under everyday conditions

The coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic affects all aspects of public life. Measures for infection prevention are implemented in various sectors, in businesses, as well as in private life. Public transport is important and indispensable in daily life for both children and adults.
 Public transport companies have to take necessary actions to protect passengers and drivers from infections. Skin contact is one of the ways of transmitting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
 This research study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a photocatalytic, antimicrobial active surface coating under everyday – not hospital – conditions. To date, such coatings have been used in hospitals as an additional measure to regular cleaning and disinfection in order to reduce the risk of infection.
 We collected samples for bacterial cultures in three classes of public transport vehicles: bus, underground, and tram. Seven different hand-contact surfaces in one vehicle of each class were coated, while the other vehicles remained uncoated. All vehicles were in regular use. The number of colony-forming bacterial units per cm2 (CFUs/cm2) was measured. A representative number of isolates were differentiated at the pathogen level. Data collected were entered into GraphPad Prism (GraphPad Software, San Diego, USA) and analyzed.
 Overall, no statistically significant reduction in the number of colony-forming units (CFUs) was observed for coated versus uncoated surfaces. Samples with a very high colony count (>250 CFU/25 cm2) were equally distributed in both groups, coated and uncoated vehicles. Within one vehicle type, there was no significant difference between the coated and the uncoated vehicle. No relevant infection-preventive effect could be proven.

Multi-layer cyber-physical low-level control solution for mobile robots

Self-driving vehicles and mobile robots are used more and more in public transportation and industrial companies. Multiple experimental platforms, which can be operated in an urban or industrial environment have been developed recently. The key development for robust and safe control of the robot’s operation is relying on the low-level cyber-physical system (CPS). CPS is composed of a collection of tightly integrated computational (cyber) units which are communicating with the physical world. CPS integrates computation and communication aspects with control and monitoring techniques. In this paper, the scientific goals underscore the analysis of the existing state of the art solutions to increase security, safety, and reliability of the multiple experimental platforms.

Sustainable Use of the Catenary by Trolleybuses with Auxiliary Power Sources on the Example of Gdynia

The current developments in onboard power source technology, in particular, traction batteries, open up new potential in trolleybus transport and also make it possible to introduce electric buses. Thus far, trolleybus transport has required the presence of overhead lines (OHL). Introducing trolleybuses with onboard batteries makes it possible to grow the zero-emissions transport network in places with limited power supply capabilities and low population density, or in places where building OHL would not be possible. This improves the efficiency of trolleybus transport and makes environmentally friendly public transport more accessible to the local citizens. Despite their obvious advantages, traction batteries can also be problematic, as the drivers may overuse them (e.g., in the event of pantograph failure), and the public transport authorities and transport companies may plan connections in an ineffective way without preparing the necessary infrastructure (the absence of slipways or automatic connection capabilities), which in turn leads to inefficient use of the OHL. The article outlines the operation of the trolleybus transport network in Gdynia. The use of traction batteries in regular connections is analysed, and the potential for electrification of the bus line, some sections of which follow the traction infrastructure, is examined.

Solution approaches for integrated vehicle and crew scheduling with electric buses

The use of electric buses is expected to rise due to its environmental benefits. However, electric vehicles are less flexible than conventional diesel buses due to their limited driving range and longer recharging times. Therefore, scheduling electric vehicles adds further operational difficulties. Additionally, various labor regulations challenge public transport companies to find a cost-efficient crew schedule. Vehicle and crew scheduling problems essentially define the cost of operations. In practice, these two problems are often solved sequentially. In this paper, we introduce the integrated electric vehicle and crew scheduling problem (E-VCSP). Given a set of timetabled trips and recharging stations, the E-VCSP is concerned with finding vehicle and crew schedules that cover the timetabled trips and satisfy operational constraints, such as limited driving range of electric vehicles and labor regulations for the crew while minimizing total operational cost. An adaptive large neighborhood search that utilizes branch-and-price heuristics is proposed to tackle the E-VCSP. The proposed method is tested on real-life instances from public transport companies in Denmark and Sweden that contain up to 1109 timetabled trips. The heuristic approach provides evidence of improving efficiency of transport systems when the electric vehicle and crew scheduling aspects are considered simultaneously. By comparing to the traditional sequential approach, the heuristic finds improvements in the range of 1.17–4.37% on average. A sensitivity analysis of the electric bus technology is carried out to indicate its implications for the crew schedule and the total operational cost. The analysis shows that the operational cost decreases with increasing driving range (120–250 km) of electric vehicles.

Owner's Responsibilities of Vehicles Used as Illegal Public Transport When Traffic Accidents Happened

The research objectives to be taken in the intended research plan are as follows: To know and analyzecriminal law construction for owners of vehicles used as public transportation or commercialized. To find out and analyzeconstruction of criminal law is the responsibility of owners of vehicles commercialized as public transportation. To find out and analyzesolution to the problem of responsibility of vehicle owners who commercialize their vehicles illegally when a traffic accident occurs on the highway. The method used by researchers isjuridical sociological approach to law and the specification in this research is including analytical descriptive. Based on the results of that research Construction based on criminal law Act No. 22 of 2009 concerningTraffic and road transportArticle 308 is a sanction for every person driving a public motorized vehicle not equipped with a license to carry out person transportation/not having a route. The construction of liability criminal law is based on Act No. 22 of 2009 concerningTraffic and road transport Article 315 states that when a criminal offense is committed by a Public Transportation Company, the criminal liability is imposed on the Public Transportation Company by adding a maximum fine of 3 (three) times the fines specified in each article and also subject to additional penalties in the form of temporary suspension or revocation transport operating license for the vehicle used.The obstacles: there are no articles in the Road Traffic and Transportation Act No. 22 of 2009 that can be used to ensnare vehicle owners. The solution is to hope that this article will exist so that in the future it can create a deterrent effect for vehicle owners so that they do not go around operating their vehicle without being equipped with existing terms and conditions in accordance with the law and in the future it is also expected to prevent the occurrence of traffic accident victims in large numbers.

STATE AND PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT OF INVESTMENT AND INNOVATION ACTIVITY OF MUNICIPAL COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES OF MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC TRANSPORT

The article provides a detailed analysis of the socio-economic significance of urban electric transport, separately considered its economic and social impacts on the urban economy. Addressing the crisis of urban electric transport on the one hand will lead to increased economic and business activity, and on the other - to social stability. It was found that any enterprise of urban electric transport can become an active participant in business activities, the purpose of which is to make a profit by carrying out production and other economic activities. The development of enterprises can be carried out on the basis of the principle of free choice of activities, as a result of which additional jobs can be created from profits, in addition, increase the economic and social working conditions of enterprises and increase public satisfaction by meeting its social needs. Also in the article the peculiarities of the activity of municipal commercial enterprises of urban electric transport and the state and prospects of development of their investment and innovation activity are revealed and described in detail. The common features, and hence the common problems of urban electric transport enterprises, the solution of which, according to the authors, is seen 1) in the implementation of full or partial commercialization of urban passenger transport and 2) its integrated development. The authors propose to focus on the second approach, which involves the development of an effective organizational and economic mechanism for managing innovation and investment activities of urban electric transport enterprises to improve the management of its work. Thus, overcoming the crisis of public transport companies will have a positive impact on the entire national economy.

An optimization model for charging and discharging battery-exchange buses: Consider carbon emission quota and peak-shaving auxiliary service market

The mode of battery replacement will become the main means of urban public transport energy supply, which will have a significant impact on the energy cost of public transport companies and the stability of the power system. Therefore, this paper proposes a charging and discharging optimization model for electric buses to participate in the carbon trading market and the peak shaving auxiliary service market. The upper model aims to minimize the total daily energy cost of the bus company, and the lower model is optimized based on the upper optimization results to minimize grid load fluctuations. Then, the scheme proposed in this paper is compared with disordered charging and orderly charging based on time of use price. Finally, a bus company in Beijing is taken as an example of simulation. The results show that compared with the disordered charging and the orderly charging based on time of use price, the charging and discharging schemes proposed in this paper can reduce the daily energy cost of 6052.68 yuan and 617.42 yuan respectively, reduce the fluctuation of power grid load by 92.14 % and 13.85 %, and reduce the carbon emission of the "bus power" combined system by 3930 kg and 2080 kg.

Electrification in Urban Transport: A Case Study with Real-time Data

Electrification in urban transportation is becoming more popular, beside it is also becoming a necessity due to climate changes and sustainability issues. Trolleybuses are presenting an alternative for this purpose. Although their technology is a mature technology that has been used for decades, there are still some technical problems that need to be overcome. In this study, a technical method is presented for the conversion of trolleybus auxiliary power units. The electrification conversion demanded by the metropolitan public transportation company operating 22 trolleybuses in the province of Malatya is the replacement of diesel generators, used as auxiliary power units, with battery units capable of meeting the local operational requirements. For this purpose, a method is proposed and followed. At first step of the implementation, real-time data has gathered from a trolleybus and this one round tour data is used to run on a scaled experiment. The setup has prepared as hardware and software to simulate the consumption on a scaled battery pack. Experimental results were interpreted with capacity and voltage restrictions resulting the determination of battery chemistry and casing to be used. Then optimal battery placement was defined as a container loading problem and application was made with the first fit decreasing algorithm considering mass and volume restrictions. It was found that only two packing types out of six combinations is enough to form a battery pack within the mass and volumetric limitations. It is evaluated that the method adopted in this study can be used in conversion applications to be made in the future.