Planning for demand responsive bus transit in Indian context: a case of Patna, Bihar

Abstract

Public Transport is considered as the backbone of the transportation system in most of Indian cities. Public bus services in most of the Indian cities lack efficiency and have many problems like longer commuting time, low ridership in non-peak hours, low frequency in high demand, congested buses during peak hours and other problems related to safety and comfort. This has resulted in decreased ridership of bus services and an increased number of private vehicles on roads. The sudden increase in private vehicles in recent decades has resulted in increased traffic congestion and other environmental problems. The fixed-route bus services are capable of addressing static demand whereas public transport demand generated is always dynamic in nature. A Demand-Responsive Transit (DRT) service is complementary to a fixed route system that operates a vehicle along a prescribed route according to flexible schedule and timing. Demand Responsive Transport is a form of transportation that vary between bus and taxi services involving flexible routing and scheduling that runs according to the travel demand of its users. It is an advanced form of public transport based on flexible routing and scheduling of vehicles between pre-known pickup and drop off locations of passengers. Thus, DRT as a form of transport has many advantages over a fixed route system as providing fixed service on static routes will not solve the problem of capturing user dynamic demand. Demand Responsive Transit (DRT )services are very common in the private sector like cabs (Ola, Uber etc.) but these services as a mass transit have not been widely popular. The study aims to plan for Demand Responsive Bus Transit services for one of the cities in India namely Patna and to explore the possibilities of Demand Responsive Transit services as a mass transit system. The study includes an assessment of the existing condition of public transport in Indian cities including Patna and to determine the factors which are important while considering DRT as a form of transport in the Indian context. The study also comprises an estimation of spatial demand for DRT services and to determine suitable routes for DRT in the study area. The study also includes measurement of efficiency of DRT in comparison to existing fixed-route bus services and suggest an institutional mechanism for the implementation of DRT services.A study area in the city of Patna has been selected which lies in Patna Municipal Corporation. Patna is the state capital of Bihar with a population of approximately 1.6 million. The city is considered as a trading and administrative hub of northern India and it is one of the fastest-growing cities in India. However, Patna lacks an efficient Public Transport system. The bus services are poorly managed by private operators, as a result, public transport share comprises only 10% of the share of passenger trips. The application of DRT services will ensure user-friendly services and will solve the existing problems of public transport. Thus, the study focuses on the application of DRT services as complementary to fixedroute bus services and assessment of impacts of such services on public transport ridership. The applicability and wider acceptability of such service and various design strategies are some of the aspects which can be considered important for future research and study. Demand Responsive Services have been used in several developed countries like UK, Singapore and Germany but it has the potential to complement existing public transport and to solve the existing problems like traffic congestion, first and last-mile connectivity and accessibility regarding public transport in Indian cities.