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Most Russian cities are currently facing major transformation processes in the public transport supply. Commercial paratransit services, known as marshrutkas, have been criticised heavily for unsafe and uncomfortable facilities as well as for anti-social business behaviour, prone to tax evasion and daily penny wars on the street. Consequently, many municipalities have enforced various strategies to restrict informal marshrutka services. This article compares the distinct policy strategies of two municipalities, Rostov on Don and Volgograd, and discusses the different outcomes. When analysing the case studies, two prevailing discourses seem to have informed the locally applied transport policies: a neoliberal, free market approach that perceives the loosely regulated commercial transport operations superior to state-led services and a rather neo-modernist perception of informal transport operation, calling for a rigorous push back of marshrutka mobility. Prominent in both policy discourses is the notion of informality as an instrument to govern the transport setting. Reviewing the developing field of informal transport studies, the article argues that the governments of the respective cities have employed (simplified) notions of informality as a legitimisation argument to take action. A closer perspective on the daily operations, however, unveils a socially institutionalised transport service full of complex operation practices beyond policy-strategic divides between the formal and informal. The contribution utilises the formal/informal nexus successfully developed in urban studies and applies it to international transport studies. Thus it enables the unveiling of insufficiencies in urban transport provision without falling in the trap of superficial modernisation narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As planners and policymakers in cities around the world struggle to attract and retain public transit users, this paper explores strategies to promote transit adoption in contexts where the odds are stacked against transit. Using travel behavior data from India's National Capital Region – one of the most congested metropolitan areas globally that is experiencing unprecedented growth in personal vehicle ownership and plummeting transit ridership – this study analyzes the choice of intra-urban (metro) rail over personal car for commute trips within a specific population sub-group that is fast adopting the personal car and exiting the transit market. The objective of this mode choice analysis that employs both logistic regression modeling and the propensity-score matching technique is to identify multi-modal service quality/performance factors that determine metro rail vs. car choice, and thereby recommend efficient and effective interventions for inducing car-to-transit switches in addition to retaining existing transit riders. Results suggest that increasing metro rail's travel time competitiveness relative to car (particularly for long distance commuters), service frequency and safety level, and raising car parking cost at the destination can increase the likelihood of choice of metro rail over car in the study context. Interestingly, increase in traffic congestion and travel time unreliability of the car mode are not expected to automatically boost the demand for metro rail use, all else equal. As the momentum towards more car adoption continues, this study shows that deteriorating traffic conditions may not push drivers out of cars; rather, public transit has to step up and pull drivers out of cars. For planners and policymakers, this study indicates that rather than passively waiting for driving conditions to worsen, they should proactively invest in transit service quality improvements. This study also highlights the importance of communicating service changes to the traveling public in order to efficiently translate interventions to behavior changes, given the dissonance between travelers' perceptions of multi-modal travel conditions and actual travel conditions. This paper further demonstrates that analysis of travelers' perception errors, including variation in error across travelers, is important for accurately modeling travel behavior changes in response to interventions. The findings add to the literature on mode choice analysis, and provide strategic advice for transit agencies in India and across other comparable contexts globally. • This study suggests ways to promote car-to-transit switches in fast-growing economies. • Regression analysis and propensity-score matching used to determine drivers of transit choice. • The importance of investing in fast, frequent and safe transit, and the role of parking cost are highlighted. • Traffic congestion and unreliability will not automatically boost transit demand. • Value of information communication and recognizing travelers' perception errors are underscored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public transport is recognized as a more environmentally friendly mode of transport than cars for the same number of passengers. Many countries are investing heavily in public transport to make it not only greener, but also more convenient, more attractive, faster, more competitive and more accessible. In order to promote a sustainable environment, private, public and non-motorized transport must functionally complement each other to form balanced integrated systems. There are currently two main forms of organizing public transport: a government-oriented service and a market-oriented service. Positive changes in the field of public transport are possible if in the process involves not only state and municipal institutions, but also infrastructure planners, passenger carriers and inhabitants. Public transport must be seen as a means of developing cities and regions. The aim of the article is to analyze the existing models of public transport organization and management, to compare them and submit a proposal, on the basis of which management model it would be possible to submit proposals for the improvement of the organization of Lithuanian public transport. Good foreign countries practice in the management and organization of public transport shows that in some countries public transport is already organized not by individual municipalities but by regions. Based on the achievements of foreign countries, municipalities are recommended to cooperate and share experience in creating a common public transport network. It is necessary to create a management scheme in Lithuania for the development of public transport services, which at the same time would reduce public costs. Article in Lithuanian. Lietuvos ir užsienio šalių viešojo transporto organizavimo ir valdymo modeliai Santrauka Viešasis transportas yra pripažįstamas ekologiškai švaresne transporto rūšimi nei automobiliai tam pačiam keleivių skaičiui vežti. Daugelis šalių daug investuoja į viešąjį transportą, kad jis būtų ne tik ekologiškesnis, bet ir patogesnis, patrauklesnis, greitesnis, konkurencingesnis ir lengvai prieinamas. Siekiant skatinti tvarią gyvenamąją aplinką, privatus, viešasis ir nemotorinis transportas turi funkciškai papildyti vienas kitą, formuodami subalansuotas integruotas sistemas. Šiuo metu egzistuoja dvi pagrindinės viešojo transporto organizavimo formos: į vyriausybę ir į rinką orientuota paslauga. Teigiamos permainos viešojo transporto srityje yra galimos tuo atveju, jeigu į procesą yra įtraukiamos ne tik valstybės ir savivaldybių institucijos, bet ir infrastruktūros planuotojai, keleivių vežėjai ir patys gyventojai. Viešasis transportas turi būti suvokiamas kaip priemonė miestams ir regionams vystyti. Straipsnio tikslas – išanalizuoti egzistuojančius viešojo transporto organizavimo ir valdymo modelius, juos palyginti ir pateikti pasiūlymą, kurio valdymo modelio pagrindu galima būtų teikti pasiūlymus Lietuvos viešojo transporto organizavimui tobulinti. Užsienio šalių viešojo transporto valdymo ir organizavimo geroji praktika parodo, kad tam tikrose šalyse jau dabar viešasis transportas yra organizuojamas ne atskirų savivaldybių, bet regionais. Remiantis užsienio šalių pasiekimais, savivaldybėms rekomenduojama kooperuotis, aktyviai bendradarbiauti ir dalintis patirtimi, kuriant bendrą viešojo transporto tinklą. Lietuvoje būtina sukurti valdymo schemą viešojo transporto paslaugoms plėtoti, kuri kartu sumažintų viešąsias išlaidas. Reikšminiai žodžiai: viešojo transporto organizavimas, valdymo modeliai, viešasis transportas, viešojo transporto politika.

To increase its attractiveness for employees, to save costs regarding parking supply and to foster modal shift away from the car, employers can offer sharply cost-reduced public transport tickets. In the state of Hesse/Germany, public authorities have gone one step further by introducing a cost-free public transport ticket for all state employees. We argue that the step from sharply cost-reduced to cost-free is more than just a monetary difference. The aim of this study is to assess whether the ticket is actually affecting employees and what changed their travel behaviour. Therefore, we have analysed a two-wave survey conducted at Goethe University in Frankfurt: one from before and one from after the introduction of the new ticket. The results show a substantial increase in the use of public transport (pt) for commuting and other trip purposes. Car use and availability, however, did not decrease. In particular, those who had no cost-reduced jobticket beforehand switched to public transport after the introduction. Furthermore, we identified increasing public transport use for low-income employees (inclusion hypothesis) and several indicators pointing towards a more multimodal behaviour (multimodal hypothesis). - Cost-free ticket increases public transport use even when the share was high beforehand - Free tickets are more effective than just a price reduction (zero-price effect) - Low income, female and older employees benefit the most - Not only travel behaviour but also attitudes change - Cost-free public transport is one component in a set of travel demand management tools [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on free fare public transport policy (FFPT) as an example of the sustainable mobility paradigm FFPT is one of a number of instruments through which a balance between the economic costs and efficiency in the public transport system can be reached. Even though the strategic approach of FFPT systems is used worldwide, their implementation is somewhat sporadic. By investigating examples of currently or formerly existing free fare public transport schemes, this study analyses the overall ability of FFPT to reach the strategic targets required. The study identifies four key areas that the municipalities are trying to target (reducing car use externalities, social justice/benefits provision, increasing the efficiency of public transport, and promoting sustainable means of transportation). As the specific conditions of each locality generate particular issues, the strategy of each transport system authority differs from one to another. It is, therefore, necessary for the transport planning authorities to implement various tools (both supportive and repressive) whose synergies will target the main objectives. A systematic and conceptual approach is what underpins the successful development of the urban transport system in the long-term.

Public transport is recognized as a more environmentally friendly mode of transport than cars for the same number of passengers. Many countries are investing heavily in public transport to make it not only greener, but also more convenient, more attractive, faster, more competitive and more accessible. In order to promote a sustainable environment, private, public and non-motorizedtransport must functionally complement each other to form balanced integrated systems. There are currently two main forms of organizing public transport: a government-oriented service and a market-oriented service. Positive changes in the field of public transport are possible if in the process involves not only state and municipal institutions, but also infrastructure planners, passenger carriers and inhabitants. Public transport must be seen as a means of developing cities and regions. The aim of the article is to analyze the existing models of public transport organization and management, to compare them and submit a proposal, on the basis of which management model it would be possible to submit proposals for the improvement of the organization of Lithuanian public transport. Good foreign countries practice in the management and organization of public transport shows that in some countries public transport is already organized not by individual municipalities but by regions. Based on the achievements of foreign countries, municipalities are recommended to cooperate and share experience in creating a common public transport network. It is necessary to create a management scheme in Lithuania for the development of public transport services, which at the same time would reduce public costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that labor migrants from different countries all over the Eurasian Union are the backbone of crucial economy sectors in the Russian Federation as, inter alia, construction, agriculture or trade. This article deals with another less mentioned but similarly significant labor market, which substantially changed its assemblage during the last couple of years, namely commercial urban transport services. In the last two decades, the marshrutka sector underwent major reforms and formalization processes that, on the one hand, brought operators back into the tax net and ensured a certain extension of control to the local transportation departments but, on the other hand, worsened the labor conditions of the transportation workers. Drawing from the empirical evidence of my fieldwork in southern Russia, I describe currently problematized mobility assemblages and embed the actor's articulations in broader conflicts within the marshrutka business and transportation regulation policy. I further analyze how labor migrants have been forced to accept unfavorable working conditions in the enterprises as a direct result of politically triggered reforms in the marshrutka business. The paper provides insights into the social arena of the marshrutka , which serves as a societal encounter of urban conflicts and transformation mirroring (un-)intended effects of the local transportation reformation attempts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on free fare public transport policy (FFPT) as an example of the sustainable mobility paradigm FFPT is one of a number of instruments through which a balance between the economic costs and efficiency in the public transport system can be reached. Even though the strategic approach of FFPT systems is used worldwide, their implementation is somewhat sporadic. By investigating examples of currently or formerly existing free fare public transport schemes, this study analyses the overall ability of FFPT to reach the strategic targets required. The study identifies four key areas that the municipalities are trying to target (reducing car use externalities, social justice/benefits provision, increasing the efficiency of public transport, and promoting sustainable means of transportation). As the specific conditions of each locality generate particular issues, the strategy of each transport system authority differs from one to another. It is, therefore, necessary for the transport planning authorities to implement various tools (both supportive and repressive) whose synergies will target the main objectives. A systematic and conceptual approach is what underpins the successful development of the urban transport system in the long-term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grave-sweeping is one of the popular special events in Asian cities, especially in Chinese societies, in which families express filial piety to their ancestors during two traditional grave-sweeping festivals in a year. The extraordinary high travel demand is often attracted to columbaria within a relative short period around the festivals, and induces severe impacts to the local traffic. It is challenging for the government and private operators to formulate a public transport service setting to satisfactorily cater all the visitors' travel demand. This paper aims to propose an optimization framework to identify the optimal provisions of public transport services for columbarium trips to achieve consumer surplus or profit maximization. Numerical studies are carried out using the travel demand data collected from a selected columbarium, to examine the effects of different public transport service settings to the policy objectives in various cases. The model results show that the current situation is neither consumer surplus nor profit optimum. Improvement schemes are suggested in relation to allow various fares during different visit periods and provide multiple public transport feeder services to serve the visitors during the high travel demand period.

To prevent the pandemic spread of human-to-human transmitted diseases such as COVID-19, governments commonly resort to countrywide or regional lockdown strategies. Such lockdowns, whenever and wherever implemented, curtail the movement of persons and vehicles, and drastically alter traffic conditions. This study focuses on the effect of drastic and sudden changes in the traffic conditions, during the COVID-19 lockdown in the State of Maharashtra in India, in March-June 2020, on the numbers of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), and the resultant fatalities and injuries. Content analysis of police-reported first information reports (FIRs) of MVAs is performed, and these lockdown trends are compared with archival data from corresponding previous (normal) periods. The statistical analysis shows that, during the lockdown, while the total number of MVAs fall drastically, they are more severe and have a much higher fatality rate per MVA. Also, the pattern of vehicles involved in MVAs, and resultant pattern of fatalities, also changes during lockdowns. The paper explores the reasons for these changed patterns and provides suggestions to reduce these negative externalities of pandemic related lockdowns., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© National Academy of Sciences: Transportation Research Board 2022.)

Climate change is one of the most critical environmental challenges faced in the world today. The transportation sector alone contributes to 22% of carbon emissions, of which 80% are contributed by road transportation. In this paper we investigate the potential private car greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction and social welfare gains resulting from upgrading the bus service in the Greater Beirut Area. To this end, a stated preference (SP) survey on mode switching from private car to bus was conducted in this area and analyzed by means of a mixed logit model. We then used the model outputs to simulate aggregate switching behavior in the study area and the attendant welfare and environmental gains and private car GHG emissions reductions under various alternative scenarios of bus service upgrade. We recommend a bundle of realistic bus service improvements in the short term that will result in a reasonable shift to buses and measurable reduction in private car emissions. We argue that such improvements will need to be comprehensive in scope and include both improvements in bus level of service attributes (access/egress time, headway, in-vehicle travel time, and number of transfers) and the provision of amenities, including air-conditioning and Wi-Fi. Moreover, such a service needs to be cheaply priced to achieve reasonably high levels of switching behavior. With a comprehensively overhauled bus service, one would expect that bus ridership would increase for commuting purposes at first, and once the habit for it is formed, for travel purposes other than commuting, hence dramatically broadening the scope of private car GHG emissions reduction. This said, this study demonstrates the limits of focused sectorial policies in targeting and reducing private car GHG emissions, and highlights the need for combining behavioral interventions with other measures, most notably technological innovations, in order for the contribution of this sector to GHG emissions mitigation to be sizable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of aeronautical and non-aeronautical activities at airports not only creates capacity constraints but also has a substantial impact on the airport's environmental footprint. This paper discusses the different approaches to ground access at airports in the UK and Australia. In the intensifying debate on how to address transport congestion and the related environmental degradation (i.e. CO2 emissions), public ground transport can be seen as a potential cornerstone in an airport's effort to address the issue. It is hence unsurprising that a key element of the UK airport approach has been to promote a shift from the private car to more sustainable transport options for both passengers and employees. Surprisingly, Australia appears (despite its relative poor environmental performance) to focus much more on the expected growth of aviation activity and measures that will aid in addressing the resulting road congestion. In contrast to UK airports, Australian airports do not use environmental targets or educational measures in their ground access plans. Our findings and the lessons learned from the UK approach suggest that more sustainable ground transport strategies could aid Australian airports in reducing their transport congestion and resulting carbon footprint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mode choice modeling has been studied by transport planners in many researches' applications. This study explores the relationships between travel patterns of commuters and their willingness to adopt an alternate mode. The study also estimated public transport share along with private vehicles. This research has been concentrated on the application of fuzzy logic technique in which the mode choice model provides the estimated modal split at the specified work centers in the study area. It is expected that the present study may be used in new transport policies by concerned authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The term Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) has been increasingly applied in the last 10 years to a niche market that replaces or feeds (usually via small low floor buses or taxis) conventional transport where demand is low and often spread over a large area. More recently, the concept of DRT as a niche market has been broadened to include a wider range of flexible, demand-responsive transport services and is increasingly referred to as Flexible Transport Services (FTSs). The contention of this paper is that well-implemented FTS has the potential to revitalise bus-based public transport services which are traditionally based on fixed networks with variable geographical coverage and levels of service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the principal-agent problem as part of a broader discussion of the challenges of privatising and outsourcing of public utilities. The research asks: how can a public transport authority (the principal) motivate bus operators (agents) to achieve the authority's goals (more and better public transport) when their respective interests may not align? The case study is based on the UK "Quality Contract Scheme", an option that has never been used before, thus providing an opportunity to understand the challenges in such cooperative schemes, and explore how public authorities struggle to achieve their goals via private service providers. Our findings reveal that the actors could not align their incentives due to transaction costs and information asymmetry, which ultimately damaged the quality of the financial projections and thwarted approval of the scheme. • The information asymmetry between the principal and the agent is one of the defining features of the principal-agent problem. • There is no incentive for bus operators to give up their business in favour of having to bid against competitors. • The agent currently retains the power and the principal cannot act directly. • There are flaws within the Acts which provided the statutory framework for implementing a QCS. • The London model of regulation and franchising is recognised as a viable option for Britain outside London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]