IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v162y2022icp1-13.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Expected service dimensions and service levels for paratransit considering future mobility needs in emerging countries

Author

Listed:
  • Pandit, Debapratim
  • Sharma, Deepa

Abstract

In emerging countries, flexible transport systems (FTS) are mostly informal and are provided by individual paratransit operators/drivers. These services are largely unregulated thus resulting in uncoordinated operations with poor service quality. Earnings and working conditions of paratransit drivers/operators are also poor due to loosely regulated fleet size and other operational and regulatory issues which results in further deterioration of service quality. This research identifies key service dimensions and issues of paratransit services and also determines the expected service level for these service dimensions using the level of service approach based on user perception. LOS scales are designed for different service attributes using a five-point satisfaction and importance rating system. For quantitative attributes, five-level LOS scales are determined by applying the Law of Successive Interval Scaling, whereas for qualitative attributes, the same has been developed using the frequency of response for each level of importance for each sub-attribute. Subsequently, we explore various policies and regulatory measures towards reform and redesign of paratransit services and other mobility needs. Operator profitability can be achieved both through the controlled entry of operators through the issue of permits and/or by relaxing the current service level of some service aspects which are at LOS B level of service. The LOS scales can help in future service design of paratransit services in emerging countries which can offer an affordable alternative to ridesourcing and ride-sharing using cars. The study is conducted in two medium-sized cities in India namely Rajkot and Vishakapatnam.

Suggested Citation

  • Pandit, Debapratim & Sharma, Deepa, 2022. "Expected service dimensions and service levels for paratransit considering future mobility needs in emerging countries," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1-13.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:162:y:2022:i:c:p:1-13
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2022.05.021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856422001422
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2022.05.021?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karlsson, I.C.M. & Mukhtar-Landgren, D. & Smith, G. & Koglin, T. & Kronsell, A. & Lund, E. & Sarasini, S. & Sochor, J., 2020. "Development and implementation of Mobility-as-a-Service – A qualitative study of barriers and enabling factors," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 283-295.
    2. Mazzulla, Gabriella & Eboli, Laura, 2006. "A service quality experimental measure for public transport," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 34, pages 42-53.
    3. dell'Olio, Luigi & Ibeas, Angel & Cecín, Patricia, 2010. "Modelling user perception of bus transit quality," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 388-397, November.
    4. Mohammad Rashid & Debapratim Pandit, 2017. "Determination of appropriate service quality attributes for household toilets in rural settlements of India based on user perception," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1381-1406, August.
    5. Salazar Ferro, Pablo & Behrens, Roger & Wilkinson, Peter, 2013. "Hybrid urban transport systems in developing countries: Portents and prospects," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 121-132.
    6. Rahman, Farzana & Das, Tanmay & Hadiuzzaman, Md & Hossain, Sanjana, 2016. "Perceived service quality of paratransit in developing countries: A structural equation approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 23-38.
    7. Harding, Simon E. & Badami, Madhav G. & Reynolds, Conor C.O. & Kandlikar, Milind, 2016. "Auto-rickshaws in Indian cities: Public perceptions and operational realities," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 143-152.
    8. Correia, Anderson R. & Wirasinghe, S.C. & de Barros, Alexandre G., 2008. "Overall level of service measures for airport passenger terminals," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 330-346, February.
    9. Nguyen-Hoang, Phuong & Yeung, Ryan, 2010. "What is paratransit worth?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 841-853, December.
    10. Moataz Mahmoud & Julian Hine, 2013. "Using AHP to measure the perception gap between current and potential users of bus services," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 4-23, February.
    11. Shreya Das & Debapratim Pandit, 2016. "Methodology to determine service delivery levels for public transportation," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 195-217, March.
    12. Wright, Steve & Emele, C. David & Fukumoto, Masayuki & Velaga, Nagendra R. & Nelson, John D., 2014. "The design, management and operation of flexible transport systems: Comparison of experience between UK, Japan and India," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 330-338.
    13. Nelson, John D. & Wright, Steve & Masson, Brian & Ambrosino, Giorgio & Naniopoulos, Aristotelis, 2010. "Recent developments in Flexible Transport Services," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 243-248.
    14. Smith, Göran & Sochor, Jana & Karlsson, I.C. MariAnne, 2020. "Intermediary MaaS Integrators: A case study on hopes and fears," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 163-177.
    15. Cervero, Robert & Golub, Aaron, 2007. "Informal transport: A global perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 445-457, November.
    16. Shaheen, Susan & Cohen, Adam, 2020. "Chapter 3 - Mobility on demand (MOD) and mobility as a service (MaaS): early understanding of shared mobility impacts and public transit partnerships," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt5030f0cd, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    17. Shreya Das & Debapratim Pandit, 2013. "Importance of user perception in evaluating level of service for bus transit for a developing country like India: a review," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 402-420, July.
    18. Hensher, David A. & Ho, Chinh Q. & Reck, Daniel J., 2021. "Mobility as a service and private car use: Evidence from the Sydney MaaS trial," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 17-33.
    19. Sharma, Deepa & Pandit, Debapratim, 2021. "Determining the level of service measures to evaluate service quality of fixed-route shared motorized para-transit services," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 176-186.
    20. Singh, Mitashi, 2020. "India’s shift from mass transit to MaaS transit: Insights from Kochi," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 219-227.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sharma, Deepa & Pandit, Debapratim, 2021. "Determining the level of service measures to evaluate service quality of fixed-route shared motorized para-transit services," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 176-186.
    2. Kayikci, Yasanur & Kabadurmus, Ozgur, 2022. "Barriers to the adoption of the mobility-as-a-service concept: The case of Istanbul, a large emerging metropolis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 219-236.
    3. Mohammad Rashid & Debapratim Pandit, 2017. "Determination of appropriate service quality attributes for household toilets in rural settlements of India based on user perception," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1381-1406, August.
    4. Kar, Manaswinee & Sadhukhan, Shubhajit & Parida, Manoranjan, 2022. "Assessing commuters’ perceptions towards improvement of intermediate public transport as access modes to metro stations," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 140-155.
    5. Jokinen, Jani-Pekka & Sihvola, Teemu & Mladenovic, Milos N., 2019. "Policy lessons from the flexible transport service pilot Kutsuplus in the Helsinki Capital Region," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 123-133.
    6. Tiglao, Noriel Christopher C. & De Veyra, Janna M. & Tolentino, Niki Jon Y. & Tacderas, Mark Angelo Y., 2020. "The perception of service quality among paratransit users in Metro Manila using structural equations modelling (SEM) approach," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Márquez, Luis & Pico, Ricardo & Cantillo, Víctor, 2018. "Understanding captive user behavior in the competition between BRT and motorcycle taxis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1-9.
    8. Aylin Kalpakcı & Neslihan Karataş Ünverdi, 2016. "Integration of paratransit systems with inner-city bus transport: the case of Izmir," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 405-426, December.
    9. Cheranchery, Munavar Fairooz & Maitra, Bhargab, 2018. "Investigating perception of captive and choice riders for formulating service standards of ordinary and premium buses in Indian cities," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 89-96.
    10. Lucy Baker, 2021. "Everyday experiences of digital financial inclusion in India's ‘micro-entrepreneur’ paratransit services," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(7), pages 1810-1827, October.
    11. Luo, Shuli & He, Sylvia Y. & Grant-Muller, Susan & Song, Linqi, 2023. "Influential factors in customer satisfaction of transit services: Using crowdsourced data to capture the heterogeneity across individuals, space and time," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 173-183.
    12. Dikas, G. & Minis, I., 2014. "Scheduled paratransit transport systems," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 18-34.
    13. Shuli Luo & Sylvia Y He, 2021. "Using data mining to explore the spatial and temporal dynamics of perceptions of metro services in China: The case of Shenzhen," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 48(3), pages 449-466, March.
    14. Xi, Haoning & Liu, Wei & Waller, S. Travis & Hensher, David A. & Kilby, Philip & Rey, David, 2023. "Incentive-compatible mechanisms for online resource allocation in Mobility-as-a-Service systems," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 119-147.
    15. Kerzhner, Tamara, 2022. "Formalization of East Jerusalem public transport: Mobility, politics and planning," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    16. Luis A. Guzman & Victor A. Cantillo-Garcia & Julian Arellana & Olga L. Sarmiento, 2023. "User expectations and perceptions towards new public transport infrastructure: evaluating a cable car in Bogotá," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 751-771, June.
    17. Luo, Shuli & He, Sylvia Y., 2021. "Understanding gender difference in perceptions toward transit services across space and time: A social media mining approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 63-73.
    18. Smith, Göran & Sørensen, Claus Hedegaard, 2023. "Public-private MaaS: Unchallenged assumptions and issues of conflict in Sweden," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    19. Tom Storme & Corneel Casier & Hossein Azadi & Frank Witlox, 2021. "Impact Assessments of New Mobility Services: A Critical Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-20, March.
    20. Shreya Das & Debapratim Pandit, 2013. "Importance of user perception in evaluating level of service for bus transit for a developing country like India: a review," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 402-420, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:162:y:2022:i:c:p:1-13. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.