Efficiency Based Evaluation of Public Transport and Paratransit Systems with a View to Integrating Transportation

Abstract

Rapid urbanization, increasing population, and a booming economy have stimulated growth in Indian cites, resulting in higher levels of dependence on private vehicles. This has raised serious issues over the sustainability of transport infrastructure in cities. Public transportation (PT) systems can help achieve sustainable transportation. But they face competition from intermediate public transport (IPT) or Paratransit. The existing PT and IPT systems, therefore, need to re-plan their operations to complement each other and deliver a wider network of services. To achieve this, an evaluation of both PT and IPT systems at microscopic levels is needed to facilitate their possible integration in a coordinated multimodal transportation system. The present paper attempts to evaluate the public and paratransit systems in the city of Surat in the Indian state of Gujarat using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique in DEAP software at the individual and system level. The operations, route design, and cost efficiency of both systems are evaluated to understand how well the existing set-up caters to demand. The arithmetic mean of operations, route design, and cost efficiencies of 26 routes of PT system were worked out to be 0.89, 0.94, and 0.69, while that of the 13 routes of the IPT system were 0.92, 0.97, and 0.88 respectively. The system investigation shows that analytically, only 8% of IPT routes were inefficient in all the three aspects, compared with 42% of PT routes. The performance of each route was analyzed, appropriate suggestions made, and the potential of these systems for designing an integrated transport system highlighted.

Analysis of the Public Transport Efficiency, Productivity and Economies of Scale: The Case of Sfax – Tunisia

“…However, for sustainability reasons, transport policies have undergone paradigm shifts, emphasizing the movement of passengers rather than vehicles. It is evident that public transport systems can mitigate the drawbacks associated with private vehicles and, therefore, contribute to sustainability goals (Dawda, Gajera, Joshi, Arkatkar, & Dave, 2020). There is a rising awareness among transport professionals and general public that it is more beneficial to have a more diverse transport system (Pusher, 2002).…”

Evaluating the Comprehensive Development Level and Coordinated Relationships of Urban Multimodal Transportation: A Case Study of China’s Major Cities

“…Some developing cities in Asia, Latin America, and Africa should learn from developed cities in Europe and Asia to develop urban public transportation and non-motorized transportation if they want to maintain a sustainable level of urban transportation and avoid environmental losses [29]. Dawda et al [30] used Data Envelopment Analysis to evaluate the public transport system in terms of aspects such as operations, route design, and cost efficiency in Surta, India. They found that for public transport systems, the number of buses should be shifted in route design planning, and bus route lengths should be reduced, to improve cost benefits.…”

A Proposal for Integrated Mobility Planning in Parandur, Chennai

“…People have no choice but to switch from one mode of transportation to another to travel between some locations when there is no direct transportation accessible (Dawda, Joshi, and Arkatkar 2021). Depending on the situation and the time, it can be challenging to switch modes of transportation occasionally (Dawda et al 2020).…”