Ridesourcing and Travel Demand: Potential Effects of Transportation Network Companies in Bogotá

This paper proposes a modal-shift analysis methodology based on a mix of small-scale primary data and big data sources to estimate the total amount of trips that are reallocated to transportation network companies (TNCs) services in Bogotá, Colombia. The analysis is focused on the following four modes: public transportation, private vehicles, conventional taxis, and TNC services. Based on a stated preferences survey and secondary databases of travel times and costs, the paper proposes a methodology to estimate the reallocation of travel demand once TNCs start operating. Results suggests that approximately one third of public transportation trips are potentially transferred to TNCs. Moreover, potential taxi and private vehicle–transferred trips account for almost 30% of the new TNC demand. Additionally, approximately half of the trips that are reallocated from public transport demand can be considered as complementary, while the remaining share can be considered as potential replacing trips of public transportation. The paper also estimates the potential increase in Vehicle-km travelled in each of the modes before and after substitution as a proxy to the effects of demand reallocation on sustainability, finding increases between 1.3 and 14.5 times the number of Vehicle-km depending on the mode. The paper highlights the role of open data and critical perspectives on available information to analyze potential scenarios of the introduction of disruptive technologies and their spatial, social, and economic implications

Exploring the relationship between intelligent transport system capability and business agility within the Bus Rapid Transit in South Africa

Abstract: More than 65% of South Africans use public transportation to access educational, business, and financial activity. Mobility of individuals and products, particularly in metropolitan areas, suffers from delays, unreliability, absence of safety and air pollution. On the other hand, mobility demand is increasing quicker than South Africa's accessible infrastructure. Public transport services are poor in general, but this picture is transforming a high-quality mass transit system using high-capacity buses along dedicated bus lanes by implementing the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. The BRT system appeared as the leading mode of urban passenger transit in the first decade of the twenty-first century after a few pioneering applications in the later portion of the twentieth century. In addition, Intelligent Transport System’s (ITS) advantages motivate both advanced and developing nations, such as South Africa, to invest in these techniques rather than spending enormous quantities on expanding the transportation network. Various stakeholders in government, academia and industry are in the process of presenting a shared vision of this new strategy and first practical steps should be taken towards this objective. Intelligent transport system capacity can provide better and more inclusive public transportation facilities to commuters through enhanced reliability and accessibility; to operators through efficiency gains; and to customers and operators in terms of cost-effectiveness and service provision affordability. International experience shows that capacities of the ITS can boost transportation profits by as much as 10-15%...D.Phil. (Engineering Management

Exploring the efficacy of innovative urban public transport infrastructural systems on economic transformation: case of Gautrain and are Yeng in the City of Tshwane

Abstract: There is generally interconnectedness among the complex urban challenges that are being experienced in most developing countries. Of particular note are the spatial fragmentation and inefficient and ineffective transport systems that characterize South African cities. In response, innovative urban public transport systems that seek to improve mobility and encourage mixed land use development have emerged. The innovations also seek to resolve the three apartheid vices that are unemployment, poverty and inequality thus enhancing economic growth and development within South African cities. This paper therefore examined the role of innovations in urban public transport systems to the creation and improvement of business operations and employment opportunities within the City of Tshwane. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were adopted and applied to gather from key informants and users of the transport services using interviews and questionnaires. Study findings revealed that the innovations have resulted in some commendable developments within the city of Tshwane however, the poor and previously disadvantaged citizens are yet to benefit meaningfully. The economic transformation agenda still needs to deliberately facilitate the inclusion of the poor in line with the massive transport infrastructure investments that have been made. Accordingly, the study recommends an integrated approach to economic transformation and innovative urban transport system. Human capacity development anchored through investment in education, skills development and human rehabilitation for self-help projects and Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME’s) is highly recommended. Major investment opportunities should prioritize the urban poor instead of mainly improving the lives of that are already part of the formal economy. As a result, the study concludes by developing a model on Integrated Approach to innovative urban transport planning and economic transformation

Accessibility and social welfare : a study of the city of Johannesburg

Within the corpus of accessibility measures is the Net Wage After Commute which describes the potential wage earnable less the transport costs incurred to commute to work from a particular location. This study examines the time-series development of accessibility, using this poverty-relevant metric, from townships in the City of Johannesburg, biennially from 2009 to 2013 when accessibility patterns were altered as a result of major investment in the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system Rea Vaya. Furthermore, a difference-in-differences methodology was adopted to explore the effect of access to the BRT on the welfare of lower-income households, investigating the premise that transport related benefits brought about by such investments translate to social welfare improvements. The results suggest that significant time-series changes in accessibility patterns are driven by improved affordability of public transport against the backdrop of decentralisation, particularly for low-income areas in the peripheries of the city. However, the marginal benefits of improving accessibility from regions with already high levels of accessibility are relatively low. The BRT improved accessibility to jobs from Soweto, but only minimally, suggesting that in polycentric regions like Johannesburg which grapple with poor modal integration, investment in improving accessibility to an already well accessible CBD could potentially result in only minimal improvements in accessibility. The difference-in-differences model revealed that implementation of the BRT did not result in any significant welfare improvements for the served community. However, an increase in the accessibility to jobs offered by the BRT resulted in a larger increase in the social welfare of those in close proximity to the service than it did for the wider community. This suggests that the BRT in Johannesburg is beneficial as a transport project to users within close proximity to the service, but not as a general urban intervention able to uniformly improve the overall amenity of the served community.Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2018.Civil EngineeringMEngUnrestricte

Evaluating service quality in the South African public road transportation industry : a case study of Johannesburg.

Doctor of Business Administration. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville 2013.The study of public road transport in Johannesburg is important because public transport provides the benefits of personal mobility and access to economic prosperity to a large number of people who rely, and are, dependent on public transport for their mobility needs. However, for decades, the public transport in South Africa has been characterized by many economic and social problems that can no longer be overlooked; exacerbated by the poor quality of service and the lack of modal integration. These problems require sustainable long term solutions, and if left unattended, could seriously impact a range of communities in the city. This study is of particular importance as it is envisaged that it will contribute towards improving the quality of public road transport service in Johannesburg, thus attracting new users and retain existing ones. The aim of the study was to evaluate passengers’ perceptions of the quality of service offered by the bus and minibus taxi industries utilising reliability, extent of service, comfort, safety, and affordability as important service quality dimensions. A sample of 902 respondents participated in the study. The respondents were drawn predominantly from Johannesburg because the study focus was on the Johannesburg Public Road Transportation System. The survey was administered personally by the researcher to individual passengers, intercepted at bus and minibus-taxi terminals in Johannesburg. As a result of the complexities involved in the process of sampling in the public transport context, an area sampling technique was used to select terminals, thereby automatically selecting the passengers to be included in the study. Various statistical tools were used for data analysis. The data was analysed utilising Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Statistical Analysis System (SAS). The study findings showed that the perceived quality of bus transport service exceeded that of minibus taxis by a significant margin. Those who used buses more often tended to have a higher opinion of the quality of bus transport. Those who used minibus taxis as their primary mode of transport did not do so because they had a high opinion of the quality of the minibus taxi experience. The service quality dimensions of reliability, extent of service, comfort, safety, and affordability, were perceived as being positively correlated and important to passengers’ perceptions of service; thus increasing future utilization of the service. Gender and occupation were not significant in influencing the overall service quality provided by the bus. Gender and income were not significant in influencing the overall service quality provided by the minibus taxis. The study findings met the objectives of the study. Consequently, professionals and academics stand to benefit from the study findings. The focus should be on the aforementioned service quality dimensions in order to improve passengers’ perceptions of public road transport service, and thus, address the public transport conundrum

Accelerating the pace of city transformations

At the close of the 2012 Urban Age conference in London, the urbanist and social theorist Richard Sennett argued that the tendency to build large-scale new cities and neighbourhoods is depriving us of the social and creative energies of traditional urban form – often referred to as cityness. He returns to this theme in this newspaper for the Urban Age conference in Rio de Janeiro by framing the debate on cities as a contrast between efficiency and sociability. This duality is at the heart of the investigation of the interrelationships between the social and the physical in cities, which since 2005 have shaped the explorations of the Urban Age programme at LSE Cities

Paratransit operators' participation in public transport reform in Cape Town: a qualitative investigation of their business aspirations and attitudes to reform

Includes bibliographical referencesThe South African government launched two public transport reform programmes in the last two decades to address generally declining services as well as specific problems with paratransit, the dominant service provider. One programme aims to incorporate paratransit in new bus-based networks in cities; the other is a national paratransit fleet renewal scheme. Cape Town is arguably most advanced with the former, and the first phase of its bus network is nearing completion. Paratransit operators have shown resistance to both programmes, yet there have been few efforts to gain direct insight into their views on their businesses or their attitudes to reform. It is thus difficult to identify reasons behind their unenthusiastic response, or to understand if revisions to the programmes might cause more operators to opt in. This research employed a case study strategy to investigate paratransit operators' business aspirations and needs in Cape Town, and to identify commonalities between their attitudes and the aims of the reform programmes to inform potential amendments to these programmes. The details of incorporating paratransit operators in the new bus system in Cape Town were not systematically recorded, and it was thus first necessary to trace the engagement process between the municipality and these operators. Information was drawn from a variety of sources over a six-year period. Against this background, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 operators and eight drivers from different parts of the city to explore their aspirations and views on reform. Access was arranged through trusted intermediaries and the eight associations to which respondents belonged. The research revealed that operators were not necessarily passive players waiting for government-led change: some established large transport enterprises, whereas others built small-scale businesses. Propositions were subsequently drawn, amongst other things, on the prospects of and potential revisions to the reform programmes. The recapitalisation programme has had the broader reach of the two programmes. The national government should consider extending it and reviewing its financial support mechanism to make it more accessible to small operators. Larger businesses might be well positioned for incorporation in bus operating companies, but concerted efforts must be made to build trust with these operators and to familiarise them with the transition process. By documenting operator incorporation in the bus system, and providing first-hand insight into paratransit aspirations and attitudes to reform, the research ultimately contributes a basis from which to understand operators' existing responses to reform and the potential for their greater participation in it

Urban Mobility and Poverty: Lessons from Medellin and Soacha, Colombia

This book examines the experience of Medellín, Colombia's second largest city, in seeking to reduce poverty and integrate large marginalised areas, marked by years of severe poverty and violence, into the urban fabric. It pays particular attention to the impact of two aerial cable-cars connecting high density hilly neighbourhoods with the rest of the city, and an associated urban upgrading programme. It also contrasts Medellín’s successful experience with that of Soacha, a municipality adjacent to Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city, where an aerial cable-car has been proposed as a means of linking two low-income hilly neighbourhoods with a main arterial road. The contrast between a well-resourced, well-managed municipality like Medellín with a dense and homogenously poor and institutionally weak municipality like Soacha offers valuable lessons to other cities in Latin America and elsewhere. Contributions draw from a two-year research project coordinated by the Development Planning Unit, University College London (UCL), in conjunction with Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Medellín campus) and Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá. In addition to the detailed case studies of Medellín and Soacha, the book also brings together cases in Latin America where aerial cable-cars have either been built or proposed in low-income neighbourhoods, including Caracas and Rio de Janeiro