Route rationalization of buses along the proposed metro corridor: a case of Kochi

Abstract

A public transport system provides an economical and efficient mode of transport to commuters in a city, and, it keeps a check on the increase of private mode users, which creates congestion and pollution. The public transport system in a city comprises mostly of different service providers from both the government and private sector providing metro, bus, ferry, auto rickshaw, and, other feeder services. Indian cities faces a major crisis of supply and demand of public transport, and, an inefficient public transport system caused due to lack of route rationalization and integration of various service providers who generally compete against one another. The problem has led to the incomplete exploitation of the resources available in public transport sector and the increase in shift of passengers from public transport to private mode of transport. The problem has been analyzed, taking the case study of Kochi which at present has a wellestablished public transport system with, bus service (Private, KSRTC and KURTC), Ferry Service, Local Train, and auto rickshaw. The current system is getting further enhanced with a proposed metro, but with an issue, that the existing bus routes is in conflict with the proposed metro corridor. The aim of the thesis is to rationalize the routes of buses that are running along the proposed metro corridor, to achieve a more efficient and integrated transportation system for Kochi. For achieving the aim, the accessibility and route density mapping of the existing public transport has been assessed. From this, the bus fleet that is conflicting with the proposed metro is identified in terms of trips and route length. The shift of commuters from the existing bus service to the proposed metro has been ascertained by conducting a revealed and stated preference survey in the vicinity of the proposed metro route. The survey also analyzes qualitative reasons behind the choice of shift. The bus fleet along the metro corridor which would get empty after the shift is estimated, and would be later on rerouted to areas where there is lesser accessibility of bus services. The access and egress trip details consisting of journey time, trip length, cost and mode choice has been assessed in the primary survey. Based on the findings the existing Average Generalized Cost (AGC) of Bus, Car and Two wheeler has beenii estimated, which has been used for generating the different Scenarios for the stated preference survey. The scenarios created where such that the proposed AGC offered is lesser than the existing AGC. The stated preference survey has been conducted in areas having lesser accessibility of bus services to ascertain the commuters who would shift from privatized mode of transport to public transport if we provide a better and improved bus service. The results from the study has been used to identify new bus routes based on the trip generation, trip attraction, and accessibility to public transport where the empty bus fleet size identified earlier would be rerouted. The rerouting along with the fleet size required is recommended to the identified routes and the new routes are integrated with the proposed metro to achieve an efficient public transportation system for Kochi. Other recommendations pertaining to improvement of bus stops where integration is proposed, has been addressed.