1. Paratransit service quality improvement and integration
Roger Behrens (University of Cape Town)

2. Outline of presentation
What is the relationship between informal and formal systems?
How can informal services transition to provide better services and quality? What are some of the success stories and how have they happened?
How can the many services model that informally exists in many cities in the Global South be applied to cities in the Global North? What lessons from each can be applied?
What are the key variables to consider in upgrading existing public transport options?
How can hybrid approaches to informal/formal public transport systems work?

3. How can informal services transition to provide better services and quality? What are some of the success stories and how have they happened?
Case example: inter-city co-operatives in Kenya

4. Background
Behrens et al 2016 (forthcoming)

5. Research questions
to expand what is known of the innovative inter-city matatu SACCOs with respect to how they are organised, how drivers are employed, how SACCO members benefit (particularly with respect to vehicle acquisition and maintenance), and how service operations management has been improved
to explore the transferability of the Kenyan inter-city matatu SACCO experience, and the lessons it offers for paratransit service quality improvement in South Africa and in other contexts where similar paratransit systems prevail

6. Research method
case selection
unit of analysis = SACCO as an organisation
sampling frame = 509 inter-city SACCOs registered with the Department of Cooperative Development and Marketing
10 SACCOs (2% of the sampling frame) were selected on a purposive basis

7. MTN SACCO: fare collection office at the Murang’a terminal

8. Key findings
McCormick et al (2015)

9. SACCO membership and vehicle fleet, by year of establishment
SACCO ‘share capital’, by year of establishment
McCormick et al (2015)

10. Correlation between SACCO ‘share capital’ and indices of member benefits and service operations improvement
Correlation between SACCO age and indices of member benefits and service operations improvement
McCormick et al (2015)

11. How can hybrid approaches to informal/informal public transport systems work?
Case example: prospects for hybridity in Cape Town
Global South
Global North
83% Johannesburg BRT MTEF 2015/16-17/18 (full and ancillary costs) (Kihato 2015)
75% Cape Town BRT Phase 1/N2 Express 2016/17 (full and ancillary costs) (Van Ryneveld 2015)
71% Johannesburg BRT MTEF 2015/16-17/18 (vehicle operating costs) (Kihato 2015)
59% Cape Town BRT Phase 1/N2 Express 2016/17 (vehicle operating costs) (Van Ryneveld 2015)
30% all public transport services in 6 largest SA metros (Hunter Van Ryneveld 2014)
* Nielsen et al (2005); Kenworthy (2011)

12. approaches to hybrid system integration
parallel route services (e.g. Caracas)
Salazar Ferro (forthcoming 2016)

13. shared rights-of-way (e.g. Lagos) or shared busways (e.g. Delhi)
closed busway, Lagos
open busway, Delhi
Salazar Ferro (forthcoming 2016)

14. peak lopping (e.g. Cape Town)
T01 Dunoon-Table View
Jammie Shuttle
Stoy (2015)
Salazar Ferro (forthcoming 2016)

15. feeder-trunk-distributor services (e.g. Quito)
Ecovia trunk-feeder interchange
Salazar Ferro (forthcoming 2016)

16. prospects
parallel route services are dependent upon a fairly fragile equilibrium between service supply and passenger demand – a change in either the line capacity of one of the modes, or in passenger travel patterns, presents a risk of destructive ‘in the market’ competition emerging
shared right-of-way or busways are also dependent on a fragile equilibrium – changes in line capacity or ridership present considerable risks of destructive ‘in the market’ competition, in the form of interloping
peak-lopping established across the entire city-wide network may result in viability problems for paratransit businesses during the off-peak
feeder-trunk-distributor services have the potential to provide a complementary network that covers the entire city, in a manner that incorporates the efficiencies of larger vehicles in higher volume corridors as well as the demand-responsiveness of paratransit in growing city edges

17. what is the impact of unscheduled feeder service pax arrivals on trunk service operational efficiency?
scheduled trunk service departures
scheduled trunk service departures
scheduled feeder service arrivals
unscheduled feeder service arrivals

18. Metrorail (black line)
MyCiTi (grey line)
Hawver (2016)

19. how might unscheduled service operators be incentivized to provide feeder/distributor services that match trunk service durations, and minimize off-peak transfer time?
can cashless fare collection systems facilitate subsidies targeted to off-peak service provision (a role for ride-sourcing/sharing apps?), and to designated passenger groups?