How Do We Improve Public Transport in the Urban Fringe - Essay Example

How do we improve Public Transport in the urban fringe (Insert Name) (Insert Course) (Instructor’s Name) (Institution Name) 11th October 2011 Abstract The main objective of this technical paper is to analyze strategies for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of public transport in urban fringe and rural residential developments. The main issues covered include land use accessibility, improving the options available in the public transport sector as well as improvement of transit systems. In order to increase the usage of transit system, the paper has discussed the major incentives that include reduction of fares and giving of discounts, provision of adequate information to the riders as well as providing travelling time-tables. The major roles of the government and local authorities in improving the services offered by public transport in rural and urban fringe are also covered in the paper. Such roles include capital funding of infrastructure systems, provision of security in bus terminals and railway stations, subsidizing the public transport services, ensuring high level of ethics in the sector and proper management of parking spaces. Introduction The need to attain a sustainable economic growth, increase production of goods and services as well as improving the living standard of the citizens are some of the objectives of the governments. The recent global recession has negatively affected the consumers’ purchasing power leading to fewer purchases of luxuries as well as basic commodities. In the same way, the increased fuel prices have forced many people to emulate public transport instead of private cars. It is therefore vital for government authorities to initiate various strategies in order to ensure efficient and effective public transport in urban fringe and rural residential developments. Public transport entails the use of trains, buses, ferries and rapid transit. Some of the benefits of public transport include reducing traffic jam, promotion of public health through reduction of greenhouse gases, energy efficiency and enhancing the productivity of individuals who do not own personal cars (Rakesh and Shweta, 2010). In this regard, it is paramount for the expansion and proper management of public transport in order to create more opportunities for achieving an economic growth. Land use accessibility One of the major challenges faced by urban fringe and rural residents is the long distance they travel to access public goods including hospital, schools and banks. Even though the location of such amenities depends on various factors including security and establishment costs, the traveling cost of the non-drivers is overlooked. For instance, government authorities may consider consolidation of many small learning institutions in one major learning institution. By considering only the direct costs, such a strategy is cost effective, however the additional travelling costs by the non-drivers makes the strategy not effective. In this regard, government should emulate location efficient development initiatives that entail locating amenities such as schools and health facilities close to the rural residents in order to address the transportation problems faced by rural residents (Andrea, Todd and Gopinath, 2009). Improvement of public transport options There is need to improve public transport system in the urban fringe as away of attaining basic mobility for the residents. One of the major avenue of achieving transport effectiveness and efficiency is by encouraging shoulder pavements in arterial and highways. Such pavements should be 1-4 metres wide in order to accommodate cyclists and enhance the highway accommodation (Jeffrey, 2007). It is also imperative to provide adequate drainage in the shoulder pavement. In the same way, ridesharing is an applicable option especially for low income earners in the rural areas who are mostly non-drivers. Even though vanpooling is mostly used in urban fringe areas, it can also be adopted in rural areas in order to minimize the traffic congestion. It is also essential to introduce shuttle services and interregional buses as well as transit systems in rural areas. This calls for provision of incentives for the individual who own cars in order to encourage them to use public means of transport. The improvement of taxi services is also a significant role that the government should play. Through introduction of subsidies such as reduction of taxes and paid by the taxi operators, many rural residents will have the ability to acquire their own taxi thus improving the transport system. Improvement of transit services Loss of revenue due to traffic congestion and expensive programs to curb the greenhouse gases emission are key challenges faced by the developing and developed countries. It is crucial to improve transit services by making them more comfortable and diversifying their services in rural as well as in the urban fringe areas (Susan Steve and Marlon, 2010). Individual with cars strongly believe that use of transit services is more convenient that using their own cars. This is due to the fact that they save wear and tear provision for their cars. In this regard, it is fundamental for government and transit agencies to ensure that transit services are improved through provision of clean vehicles which are fast enough to transport the users to their destinations (Center for Transportation Excellence 2005). Reduction of transport fares and discounts In order to address the needs of various groups of people including the students, employees and disabled persons, it is vital for the public transport ministries to introduce discounts and initiate proper mechanisms of determining the amount of fares payable by the public transport users. Due to the great need of many bus companies to maximize their profits, they regularly increase their fares especially during peak travelling hours. In order to avoid exploitation of the rural and urban fringe travelers, adequate regulations should be put in place to control the fares (Matthew 2009). Similarly, it is appropriate for transit agencies to initiate monthly or annual transit passes that have discounted fares. It is important to note that the fares paid up per trip results to high transportation cost in the long run. Thus the use of periodical passes will greatly reduce the cost of transportation for the non-drivers. Enhancing rider information and promotional strategies In order to retain the loyalty of the existing travelers and motivate more people to use the transit systems, it is imperative for travelling agencies in collaboration with the government to provide adequate information to the riders. According to Brian and Margaret (2009) through adoption of automatic vehicle locator, information on transit arrival is effectively relayed to transport agency managers and travelers. In addition, provision of efficient and effective transit information would improve the ride by ensuring that individual’s productivity is increased. Other avenues that can be utilized to improve rider communication include pagers, cell phones and internet. The provision of discounted transit as mentioned earlier should be considered as one of the major promotional strategy. Due to the high costs of fuel and increased costs of vehicle maintenance, drivers have emulated transit system as an alternative. It is therefore vital for transit agencies especially in urban fringe areas to emulate e-marketing as a means of promoting their services. This entails the use of internet and websites so as to provide adequate and reliable information on the various discounts and services provided by the transit agencies. Public transport time tables The provision of time tables is an important aspect of improving public transport system. In order for the passengers to plan and coordinate their journeys, the time tables include maps and the fares charged to travel a specific destination. The efficient of the time tables is enhanced by the clock-face scheduling that aims at arranging the services offered by the public transport systems (Katrin, 2008). Due to the increased demand of the public transport especially during the rush hours, it is paramount for the companies providing public transport in urban fringe and rural areas to provide extra routes. This will ensure that traffic congestion during the rush hours is effectively addressed. It is also vital to improve the coordination of the buses, trains and shuttles especially at the intersection. In this way, passenger’s time to travel is reduced and the revenues of the transport providers are increased. The table below gives the major information provided by a time table. Time of departure Destination Service Notes(Day the service is available) Figure 1 Capital funding for public transport system The growth of any economy largely depends on the infrastructure system available in a particular country. For example, in the developing countries road and trains are extensively used as a means of transport by the employees. In addition, most of the companies use roads to transport raw material from their sources to the factories. In this regard, it is imperative for the government authorities to increase budgetary allocation for the expansion of the road networks. Through the capital funding modern designs of constructing highways will be adopted. In the same way, the increased funding will enable developing countries to acquire electric trains that are efficient and effective in reducing the greenhouse gases. Lack of adequate funds is one of the major obstacles that are affecting the development of public transport. As a result of the deprived road conditions especially in poor and developing countries, there is an increase in road accidents as well as regular breakdown of vehicles used by the travelers. In order to address such breakdown and accidents, governments should emulate external sources of funds such as world bank and other financial organization from developed countries such US and Russia. In this way, it will be possible to hire international road construction companies for instance from China that have adequate skills in road construction. Improvement of security Lack of adequate security in the public transport system is a factor that discourages drivers to use the transit system in the developing and developed countries. For instance, in North America most people do not value the use of public means of transport for security reasons. In order to expand the usage of transit systems, it is vital for the transport agencies and the government to ensure that the security of the passengers and their luggage is guaranteed. In most rural areas, buses are prone to hijacking cases that have resulted to occurrence of accidents and even deaths. In the modern times when the world is experiencing regular threats from the terrorists, it is important to embark on improving security especially in railway stations and the major bus terminals (Policy and Practice in the U.S, 2010). The improved technology has resulted to the development of various security systems such as CCTV. By installing such systems in the bus stations and railway stations it becomes easier to detect any security threat (PPS and Multisystems, 1999). The loss of revenue in the public transit is also caused by poor ticketing system. In order to ensure passengers have genuine tickets, it is advisable for the security personnel at the railway stations to initiate effective and efficient ticketing process (Robert, 2006). For example, transport companies should issue electronic cards such as smart cards that should be automatically checked before the passenger boards the bus or the train. The checking of the tickets can also be done by the conductor during the ride. Subsidizing public transport system The role of any government is to ensure that the national resources are equally distributed. Due to the increasing poverty level in rural areas and also in some urban fringe, some people are unable to access basic necessities such as hospitals. In such scenarios, governments should offer subsidies to the people who are physically unable to use automobiles. This would not only result to the expansion of business activities in rural areas but also it enhances economic development of urban fringe areas (Todd, 2006). A good example of a government subsidy is to give funds to the transport companies that are faced with financial obstacles. Such funds would ensure continuity of operations by the transport companies. Other forms of subsidies that are indirect include allowing private and public transport companies to utilize of government owned infrastructure system at a low or no cost. In addition, the government can take the initiative of reducing taxes for the manufacturers of automobile . In this way, the costs of production of public vehicles will be reduced leading to an increase in the number of vehicles thus improving the transport system in the long run. The provision of mass transit is another aspect of government subsidy that is beneficial in curbing emission of greenhouse gases emitted during traffic congestion. Even though the mass transit is funded by the taxes paid by the citizens, Graham (2002) argues that the expansion of road system and reduced pollution are benefits that offset the high costs of funding the mass transit. Ethical issues in the public transport system In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public transport servicing, it is vital to initiate ethics that ensures social duties performed by the sector are not jeopardized. Taking into consideration that the users of the public transport are young people, the old and the sick, ethical aspects in the bus terminals and in railway stations cannot be overlooked. In this regard, it is necessary for conductors and the drivers to possess certificates of good conduct. The impression that is portrayed by the managers, conductors and the drivers determines whether passengers will use their means of transport in future. It is worth to note that even though the amount of fare paid by the travelers is considered before a passenger boards a bus or a train, the personal attributes of the conductors are also considered. Some of the ethical aspects that government should monitor are the use of abusive languages to the travelers, unnecessary delays and failure to transport the passengers to their destinations (Katrin and Arjan, 2006). There are various ways through which government can ensure that drivers and conductors uphold ethics during their duties. First, communication skills courses should be offered by driving schools. This will ensure that all drivers have the required skills to effectively interact with travelers. Secondly, conductors exhibiting uncouth behaviors should be fined. Managers of public transport companies should also undertake regular seminars and forums to train their drivers and conductors on the importance of maintaining efficient customer care services. Improving management of parking system Through adoption of the various strategies as depicted by this paper, the possibility of increasing public transport vehicles will be enhanced. This means that more parking spaces should be established to contain the high number of public vehicles. This can be done by establishing parking cites in the outskirts of big cities so as to avoid traffic congestion in the city centers especially during the rush hours (Vukan, 2005). In the same way, government and local authorities should hire more parking attendants who are responsible for collection of parking fees. Another way, to encourage use of public transport is to increase parking charges for the privately owned cars. This will ensure the drivers use the public means of transport as long as the government properly manages and improves their services. Efforts to reduce loss of revenue generated from parking of public spaces should be the focus of every government. Due the high rampant cases of corruption especially in developing countries, high revenue is lost through fake parking tickets an aspect that hinders the provision of better transport services by the government (Jeff, 2008). One way through which such corruption cases can be avoided, is by use of electronic parking tickets and regular inspection of the tickets issued to the cars in the parking spaces by the government authorities. Conclusion There is need to reduce the negativities cause by greenhouse gases in both rural and urban fringe areas. Due to traffic congestion, public transport services should be improved though reduction of travelling costs such as increased fares and unnecessary delays. The provision of incentives to the drivers that include discounted fares, fast transit services, annual and monthly transit passes will motivate drivers to emulate the services offered by the public transport services. Based on the above discussion, it is crucial for the government and local authorities to increase the capital funding in order to expand the road network and the railway lines that are major channels of transportation utilized in third world and developed countries The provision of good customer care by the transit agencies is also an important aspect discussed in the paper that will ensure effectiveness of public transport. In order to reduce loss of funds in the public sector, government authorities should put proper mechanisms to curd cases of indiscipline and corruption. References Andrea, B., Todd, L and Gopinath, M.(2009) ‘Training Document On “Transportation Demand Management,” Sustainable Urban Transport Project Brian, C and Margaret, O. (2009) “A Stated Preference Analysis of Real-Time Public Transit Stop Information,” Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 12, No. 3, Center for Transportation Excellence (2005) “Building Communities Through Public Transportation: A Guide for Successful Transit Initiatives” Center for Transportation Excellence, for the Public Transportation Partnership for Tomorrow www.cfte.org/Building_Communities.pdf (11-10-2011) Graham C.(2002) “International Comparison of Light Rail Systems: The Role of Integrated Ticketing, Pedestrianization and Population Density”, ERSA2002 Conference. Available from (www.raumplanung.uni-dortmund.de/rwp/ersa2002/cd-rom/papers/167.pdf). Jeff, K. (2008), “An International Review of The Significance of Rail in Developing More Sustainable Urban Transport Systems in Higher Income Cities,” A journal on World Transport Policy & Practice, Vol. 14, No. 2  Jeffrey, M. (2007) “Transit Competitiveness in Polycentric Metropolitan Regions,” Transportation Research A, Vol. 41. Katrin, D and Arjan V.(2006) “Psychological Effects of and Design Preferences for Real-Time Information Displays,” Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 9, No.1 Katrin, D. (2008) “Ease-of-Use in Public Transportation - A User Perspective on Information and Orientation Aspects”, Doctoral Thesis, KTH Architecture and the Built Environment Available from www.kth.se Matthew H. (2009), “Transit Response to Congestion Pricing Opportunities” Oxford: Oxford University Press. PPS and Multisystems (1999) “The Role of Transit Amenities and Vehicle Characteristics in Building Transit Ridership” Transit Cooperative Research Program Report 46, National Academy Press Policy and Practice in the U.S (2010). Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 12, No. 3 Rakesh, B and Shweta, B. (2010) “Public Transportation Services in Oman: A Study of Public Perceptions,” Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 13, No. 4 Robert, C. (2006) “Office Development, Rail Transit, and Commuting Choices,” Journal of Public Transportation, Volume 9, No. 5 Susan, H., Steve, S and Marlon, B. (2010) “Draft Policy Brief on the Impacts of Transit Service Strategies Based on a Review of the Empirical Literature”, Available from (http://arb.ca.gov/cc/sb375/policies/policies.htm). Todd, L. (2006) “Smart Congestion Reductions II: Reevaluating The Role Of Public Transit For Improving Urban Transportation”, Transport Policy journal, Vol. 14, No. 1 Vukan, V. (2005). “Urban Transit: Operations, Planning and Economics”. New York: John Wiley & Sons Read More