Affordability and subsidies in public urban transport : what do we mean, what can be done?

Subsidy policies on public urban transport have been adopted ubiquitously. In both developed and developing countries, subsidies are implemented to make transport more affordable. Despite their widespread implementation, there are virtually no quantitative assessments of their distributional incidence, making it impossible to determine if these instruments are pro-poor. This paper reviews the arguments used to justify subsidy policies in public urban transport. Using different tools to quantitatively evaluate the incidence and distributive impacts of subsidy policy options, the paper analyzes the findings of a series of researchpapers that study urban public transport subsidy policies in developed and developing countries. The available evidence indicates that current public urban transport subsidy policies do not make the poorest better off. Supply-side subsidies are, for the most part, neutral or regressive; while demand-side subsidies perform better-although many of them do not improve income distribution. Considering that the policy objective is to improve the welfare of the poorest, it is imperative to move away from supply-side subsidies towards demand-side subsidies and to integrate transport social concerns into wider poverty alleviation efforts, which include the possibility of channeling subsidies through monetary transfer systems or through other transfer instruments (food subsidies, health services and education for the poor). The general conclusion of the paper is that more effort should be devoted to improve the targeting properties of public urban transport subsidies using means-testing procedures to ensure a more pro-poor incidence of subsidies.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Transport in Urban Areas,Urban Transport,Taxation&Subsidies,Economic Theory&Research

The relationship between urban form and station boardings for Bogota\u27s BRT

Despite emerging evidence about the association between the built environment and travel behavior, the relationship between bus transit demand and urban form remains largely unexplored. By relying on primary and secondary data analyzed with a geographic information system, this paper examines the built environment characteristics related to stop-level ridership for Bogota\u27s successful bus rapid transit system. After accounting experimentally and statistically for the simultaneity between transit supply, transit demand, and the built environment, we find evidence of the importance of the built environment in BRT station boardings. Specifically, environmental supports for walking and personal and environmental barriers to car use were related to higher BRT boardings. Our results underscore the importance of urban environmental interventions to support transit use

Looking into Engagement Trajectories in Interactive Digital Narrative using Process Mining

The field of Interactive Digital Narrative (IDN) aims at forging a distinctive Interactive Narrative Experience (INE) by accommodating user intervention in the generation of plot events and stories. Due to the highly generative nature of IDN systems, it is challenging to validate if a narrative engine reacted according to user input providing an engaging INE. To date, a great deal of User Research methodologies employed in the field employs pre-post task questionnaires producing global accounts of the experience. Although relevant, such methods are insufficient for examining the user-system interplay that could have led users towards a certain Engagement Trajectory, or series of self-reported values of Continuation Desire sampled during runtime. In this article, we introduce a methodology for the fine-grained evaluation of the INE from the perspective of Engagement Trajectories and report the results of a study featuring user behavior pattern discovery based on Process Mining on a dataset of playtesting traces. We were able to discover and characterize 14 Engagement Trajectories encountered by 90 users of an IDN system.We consider our methodology coupled with Process Mining as a fit general-purpose technique for analyzing the process of playing in IDN

A Tool for Interactive Visualization of Narrative Acts

Authoring for Interactive Digital Storytelling (IDS) requires reasoning in formal paradigms which has proven to be a difficult task. One of such paradigms is the narrative act, understood as “actions on actions.” We compiled a catalog of narrative acts and made it publicly available as an online interactive visualization tool. A preliminary evaluation deemed this ‘living' tool as useful for inspiring authors of IDS systems

The relationship between segment-level built environment attributes and pedestrian activity around Bogota\u27s BRT stations

Few studies have examined the relationship between micro-scale features of the built environment and street segment usage. Micro-scale features of the built environment include the width of the sidewalk, the presence of amenities such as benches and trash bins, and the presence of crossing aids such as stoplights and crosswalks. This study employs segment-level primary data collected for 338 street segments in close proximity to one of 71 bus rapid transit stations in Bogotá, Colombia. We also use secondary data to control for area-level characteristics such as density, socio-economic stratum, unemployment, and crime. Factor and regression analyses are to use identify two dimensions of the built environment that are associated with higher levels of pedestrian activity: pedestrian-friendly amenities, comprised of wider and higher quality sidewalks and the presence of amenities such as benches, garbage cans, and bike paths; and connectivity, comprised of higher levels of road density, three- and four-way intersections, and density. In addition, we find greater pedestrian activity on segments with higher development intensity, with more mix of land uses, and with more crossing aids. Although the relationships identified are not causal, they are suggestive in terms of planning successful built environment interventions

Engagement in Interactive Digital Storytelling: Sampling Without Spoiling

Interactive Digital Storytelling (IDS) enables users to influence the unfolding of a story at the plot level using Artificial Intelligence techniques for generating and balancing narrative paths on the fly. Despite their promise, most IDS systems are still unable to consistently deliver engaging user experiences. To further understand the characteristics of this new media, particularly user engagement, we apply the concept of Continuation Desire to an existing Interactive Narrative to dynamically sample engagement during a play session. We use a comparative study to assess the effects of interrupting users during gameplay. This study found no evidence that, if done properly, interrupting the experience spoils it. We find no significant impact on the desire to play again as a result of introducing interruptions either

Affordability and Subsidies in Public Urban Transport: What Do We Mean, What Can Be Done?

Subsidy policies on public urban transport have been adopted ubiquitously. Both in developed and developing countries, subsidies are implemented under two major premises: (1) to increase public transport use and to reduce externalities, such as greenhouse gas emissions and congestion, and (2) to make transport more affordable, particularly for the poorest. This paper focuses on the latter. Despite the widespread implementation of subsidies, there are virtually no quantitative assessments of their distributional incidence, making it impossible to determine if these policy instruments are pro-poor. Using different tools to quantitatively evaluate the incidence and distributive impacts of subsidy policy options, this paper analyses the findings of a series of research papers that have studied urban public transport subsidy policies in developed and developing countries. Available evidence indicates that current public urban transport subsidy policies do not make the poorest better off. Supply side subsidies—provided to the operator—are, for the most part, neutral or regressive; while demand side subsidies—provided to the user—perform better, although many of them do not improve income distribution. Considering that the vast majority of developing countries justify public urban transport subsidies on social grounds, as a means to improve the mobility, and thus welfare, of the poorest, it is imperative to move away from supply side subsidies towards demand side subsidies and integrate transport social concerns into wider poverty alleviation efforts, which include the possibility of channelling subsidies through monetary transfer systems or through other welfare instruments (food subsidies, health services and education for the poor)