Bus Transport

Description

The bus is the most patronised of all land–based public passenger mode but is seen as a somewhat unglamorous means of supporting mobility and accessibility, in contrast to rail – heavy and light, yet offers so much to the travelling public as well as offering attractive sustainability opportunities. This book reflects the author’s perspective on issues of importance to the preservation and health of the bus sector. The twenty one chapters cover the themes of institutional reform, performance measurement and monitoring, service quality, costing and pricing of services including commercial and non-commercial contracts, travel choice and demand, integrated bus-based systems, and public transport policy, especially challenges in growing patronage.

Cover 2
Bus Transport: Economics, Policy and Planning 5
Copyright page 6
Contents 9
About the Author 21
List of Chapters and Previous Sources of Publication 23
List of Figures 25
List of Tables 27
Chapter 1. Introduction 31
Chapter 2. Organisation and Ownership of Public Transport Services 35
- 2.1. Introduction 35
- 2.2. Organisational Reform Developments 36
- 2.3. Other Issues 41
- 2.4. Recommendations for Ongoing Consideration 44
Chapter 3. User Needs and Impact on Public Transport 45

Cover 2
Bus Transport: Economics, Policy and Planning 5
Copyright page 6
Contents 9
About the Author 21
List of Chapters and Previous Sources of Publication 23
List of Figures 25
List of Tables 27
Chapter 1. Introduction 31
Chapter 2. Organisation and Ownership of Public Transport Services 35
- 2.1. Introduction 35
- 2.2. Organisational Reform Developments 36
- 2.3. Other Issues 41
- 2.4. Recommendations for Ongoing Consideration 44
Chapter 3. User Needs and Impact on Public Transport 45
- 3.1. Introduction 45
- 3.2. Service Effectiveness in Diversified Markets 46
- 3.3. Quality Partnerships 47
- 3.4. Service Effectiveness and Contracts 48
- 3.5. Recommendations 51
Chapter 4. Contracting Options 55
- 4.1. Introduction 55
- 4.2. Definitional Issues for Performance-Based Contracts (PBCs) 57
- 4.3. Procuring Services through Competitively Tendered or Negotiated Contracts – The Issues 60
- 4.4. Payment Models 65
- 4.5. Other Issues 69
- 4.6. Conclusions and Recommendations for Ongoing Inquiry 71
- Appendix 4A. The Chilean Proposal 73
- Appendix 4B. The Informal or Alternative Transport Sector: Relevant or Redundant? 75
Chapter 5. Contract Areas and Service Quality Issues in Public Transit Provision: Some Thoughts on the European and Australian C 77
- 5.1. Introduction 77
- 5.2. Contract Area Size and Number 78
- 5.3. Integrated Fares: Regulatory Control and/or Genuine Benefit to Passengers? 87
- 5.4. Conclusions 91
- Appendix 5A. The Impact of Fares and Ticketing Integration on Patronage International Case Studies 92
- Appendix 5B. Contract Area Size: The Adelaide View 94
Chapter 6. Performance-Based Quality Contracts in Bus Service Provision 97
- 6.1. Introduction 97
- 6.2. The Appeal of PBC 98
- 6.3. The Hordaland (Norway) and New Zealand Models: A Healthy Starting Position 102
- 6.4. A Proposed Performance-Based Quality Contract Regime for Australia 106
- 6.5. Conclusion 109
Chapter 7. Performance-Based Quality Contracts for the Bus Sector: Delivering Social and Commercial Value for Money 111
- 7.1. Introduction 111
- 7.2. Incentive-Based Performance Contracts 114
- 7.3. The Australian PBC Proposition 116
- 7.4. A Case Study for the Outer Metropolitan Area of Sydney 127
- 7.5. Conclusions and Future Research Directions 133
Chapter 8. Delivering Value for Money to Government Through Efficient and Effective Public Transit Service Continuity: Some Thou 135
- 8.1. Introduction 135
- 8.2. The Indisputable Strategic Objective of Government on Behalf of Society 136
- 8.3. Trust, Cooperation and Collaboration 136
- 8.4. Supporting Efficiency and Effectiveness through the Life of a Contract (and not at the Time of Tendering) 137
- 8.5. Asset Ownership – A Key Issue Linked to the Boundaries of a Transit Operator’s Business 139
- Appendix 8A. Achievements of Competitive Tendering, Against the Major Goals of Cutting Service Costs and Improving Service Quali 143
- 8.6. Conclusions 143
- Appendix 8B. Competitive Tendering – Too Much Focus on this Instead of the Bigger Agenda 144
- Appendix 8C. Efficient Delivery of Public Funds 146
Chapter 9. Melbourne’s Public Transport Franchising: Lessons for PPPs 153
- 9.1. Scope 153
- 9.2. Train and Tram Franchising in Victoria, Australia 154
- 9.3. Antecedents 158
- 9.4. Outcomes from Franchising 159
- 9.5. Overview 165
- 9.6. Why has the Process Failed to Deliver? 166
- 9.8. Concluding Comments 173
- 9.7. Melbourne’s Emerging New Arrangements 173
Chapter 10. Establishing a Fare Elasticity Regime for Urban Passenger Transport 175
- 10.1. Introduction 175
- 10.2. Microeconomic Specification of the Indirect Utility Function for Choice Alternatives 177
- 10.3. Specifying a Choice Model 181
- 10.4. The Empirical Context 186
- 10.5. Empirical Results 190
- 10.6. Conclusions 201
Chapter 11. Preserving the Symmetry of Estimated Commuter Travel Elasticities 203
- 11.1. Introduction 203
- 11.2. Choice and Ordinary Elasticities 204
- 11.3. Aggregate Demand and HEV Properties 206
- 11.4. The Model 212
- 11.5. The Empirical Context 214
- 11.6. Results 215
- 11.7. Indicative Comparisons with other Estimates 217
- 11.8. Conclusions 219
- Appendix 11A. The Stated Choice Experiment Fare Categories and Levels 220
- Appendix 11B. Original and Adjusted Matrices of Commuter Demand Elasticities 221
- Appendix 11C. HEV Model: Joint Estimation of SP and RP Choices 222
Chapter 12. TRESIS (Transport and Environmental Strategy Impact Simulator): A Case Study 225
- 12.1. Introduction 225
- 12.2. Detailed Background to TRESIS 226
- 12.3. Application Issues 232
- 12.4. Warringah Case Study 234
- 12.5. Conclusions 241
- Appendix 12A. TRESIS 1.4 Outputs 243
Chapter 13. Productivity Measurement in the Urban Bus Sector 251
- 13.1. Introduction 251
- 13.2. Measuring Performance – Total Factor Productivity 253
- 13.3. Data Requirements and the Sourcing of Data 255
- 13.4. Descriptive Profile of the Urban Bus Sector 1991/1992 262
- 13.5. Gross Total Factor Productivity 266
- 13.6. Concluding Comments 286
Chapter 14. A Service Quality Index for Area-Wide Contract Performance Assessment 289
- 14.1. Introduction 289
- 14.2. The Search for an Operational Indicator of Service Quality 290
- 14.3. The Stated Preference Paradigm 291
- 14.4. Defining the Empirical Setting and the SP Experiment 292
- 14.5. Results of the user Preference Model 294
- 14.6. The Service Quality Indicator (SQI) 299
- 14.7. Operationalising SQI as a Regulatory Tool 300
- 14.8. Conclusions 306
Chapter 15. Developing a Service Quality Index (SQI) in the Provision of Commercial Bus Contracts 307
- 15.1. Background 307
- 15.2. Data Requirements and Attribute Selection for Service Quality Measurement 309
- 15.3. Sample Response 313
- 15.4. Statistical Analysis to Quantify Service Quality 316
- 15.5. Conclusions 328
Chapter 16. Non-Commercial Contract Reimbursement: The Institute of Transport Studies (ITS) Model 329
- 16.1. Introduction 329
- 16.2. Quality of Survey Data 330
- 16.3. The ITS Model 333
- 16.4. Justifiable Factors for 2003 345
- 16.5. Comparison of PwC and ITS Models 351
- 16.6. Updating Costs to Current Dollars 353
- 16.7. Summary 356
- Appendix 16A. Non-Commercial Contract Cost Index Survey with Notes 358
- Appendix 16B. ITS Model: ACC Worksheet 363
- Appendix 16C. Business Loan Rates 364
- Appendix 16D. ITS Model and PwC Model Summary Sheets, 2002 366
- Appendix 16E. ITS Model and PwC Model Summary Sheets, 2003 368
- Appendix 16F. Total Revenue Required per Bus, PwC Model Vs. ITS Model, $, 2002, by Contract Category 370
- Appendix 16G. Total Revenue Required per Bus, PwC Model Vs. ITS Model, $ 2003, by Contract Category 374
- Appendix 16H. Commercial Contract KPIs 2001–2002(Individual Operator names have been Suppressed) 378
- Appendix 16I. Non-Commercial Contract Summary KPIs, 2001–2002 380
Chapter 17. A Bus-Based Transitway or Light Rail? Continuing the Saga on Choice Versus Blind Commitment 383
- 17.1. Introduction 383
- 17.2. Taking a Closer Look at Light Rail and Bus-Based Transitways 385
- 17.3. More on the Cost of Alternative Systems 389
- 17.4. More on Patronage? 392
- 17.5. Impacts of Public Transport Facilities on Land Use 398
- 17.6. An Assessment of Current Experience 403
- 17.7. Conclusions 406
Chapter 18. The Future of Exclusive Busways: The Brazilian Experience 409
- 18.1. Introduction 409
- 18.2. Brazil: National History and Profile 410
- 18.3. Conclusion 434
- Appendix 18A. International Comparisons 436
Chapter 19. The Imbalance Between Car and Public Transport use in Urban Australia: Why does it Exist? 437
- 19.1. Introduction 437
- 19.2. The Challenges Facing Public Transport 440
- 19.3. What does this mean for Public Transport? 442
- 19.4. Looking for Niches: Now You are Talking Sense 449
- 19.5. The British Challenge to Try and Redress the Imbalance 451
- 19.6. Taking a Closer Look at Light Rail or Trams 452
- 19.7. Concluding Thoughts: The Key Challenges Remain 456
- Appendix 19A. Urban Passenger Travel Activity in Australia 459
Chapter 20. Urban Public Transport Delivery in Australia: Issues and Challenges in Retaining and Growing Patronage 461
- 20.1. Introduction 461
- 20.2. Big Themes and Key Sentiments 463
- 20.3. Practices that Offer Patronage Opportunities 465
- 20.4. Three High Agenda Themes to Grow Patronage 468
- 20.5. Concluding Comments 472
Chapter 21. Urban Public Transport Agendas and Challenges 475
- 21.1. Introduction 475
- 21.2. Changing the Balance in Favour of Public Transport 476
- 21.3. The Ongoing Debate on Technological Forms of Public Transport: Bus Systems and Light Rail Revisited Yet Again! 481
- 21.4. Environmental Matters and Buses 484
- 21.5. Service Quality and your Customers: The Ultimate Purpose 488
- 21.6. Concluding Thoughts: Transport-Friend or Foe? 490
Notes 495
References 519
Subject Index 535

Author's affiliation

David A Hensher: Institute of Transport Studies, The Universit

Economics, Policy and Planning

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