Planning for passenger wayside amenities on tourist routes

Abstract

Wayside Amenities or in some countries it is also called as rest side areas, like in case of Japan it is known as MICHI-NO-EKI. These are the infrastructure or development which are established to provide the facility of refreshment and rest areas to the commuters of the highways and expressways during their longdistance journeys. As in long distance journeys it develops fatigue, which is a cause of accidents on roads. So, by considering both the passengers as well as drivers, these facilities are provided. It is essential in making the journey safe for them along the different hierarchy of roads. Due to the absence of these facilities, there are more chances of accidents happening on those routes. As India has the largest road network, which is spanning a total of 5.89 million kilometres, because of which it is the second largest road network in the world. These networks carry a huge traffic and vehicles throughout the day and night. In India, MoRTH (Ministry of Roadways Transportation and Highways) has given the provision of wayside amenities. The MoRTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) is focusing on providing the facilities of these wayside amenities along different highways and upcoming green expressways in 22 different states all over India. As, it is very convenient and comfortable in fatigue reduction during their long-distance journeys. Also, these facilities can play different roles like in the case of Japan it acts as a regional centre which helps them in tourism functioning or it can act as a basic and supplementary service provider during disasters. But the involvement of higher capital investments and difficulty in footfall and revenue projections is not attracting the private parties. So, it is essential to focus in this sector as there are upcoming amenities. This thesis aims to identify and analyse the preferences of services and their sub factors in existing amenities across the location from different perspectives of experts, users, and operators. The research also intends to establish and assess the relationship between the time spent and expenditure done by the users in these amenities and finally recommend revenue maximising services and what could be the operating model for such type of a