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Demand Responsive Transport
Evidence on performance
Context Regiotaxi, the Netherlands taxi sharing scheme, first started out with the trials in 1989 by Netherlands State Railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen NS). The primary objective of this scheme was to assist passengers who used the railway services to travel onwards through to their final destination. Hence this is referred to as the treintaxi. At the same time, interest throughout the Netherlands generated by the success of the treintaxi scheme has led to a range of other DRT services. The broader concept is known as the regiotaxi scheme. Treintaxi is a national scheme and is available at 38 railway stations across the Netherlands. This is an example of a DRT scheme provided using conventional taxis with the main difference that the journey is shared with strangers. The service operates from 7am until the last train of the day although in major cities it operates 24 hours. As passengers alight from the trains, users who wish to make use of the treintaxi service join a treintaxi queue. If taxis are not available, then they can push a button at the booth to call for a taxi. Waiting times are not lengthy and are usually in the region of ten to fifteen minutes. Regiotaxi has taken over the provision of the treintaxi service described above in some provinces of the Netherlands (following the privatisation of NS (CfIT, 2008). In addition to serving the role previously played by treintaxi, Regiotaxi services have been developed to provide the only form of public transport service operating in areas with a low population density or low overall demand for public transport (Mott MacDonald, 2008a). Regiotaxi is operated as a shared taxi service without a fixed route and provides a door to door service. Users have to book their trips up to 60 minutes in advance and there is a focus on operating services in rural areas of the Netherlands. There is growing evidence that Regiotaxi KAN is evolving into what Ambrosini et al (2004) describe as a Flexible Mobility Agency. Due to their involvement with operators, they have been able to use vehicles of various sizes in response to vehicle loadings. In addition, there have been contracts with local municipalities to provide specialised transport services to people with disabilities as well as commercial contracts with large employers in their area of operation.Impacts on demand TreinTaxi: In 1997, the number of journeys on the Treintaxi network was 3.8 million. This dropped to 2.6 million in 2002 and further decreased to 2.2 million in 2003. The reason for this can be explained partially by the rationalisation of the treintaxi network due to the privatisation of NS (MottMacDonald, 2008b). RegioTaxi: Regiotaxi KAN which operates in the Arnhem-Nijmegen Region of the Netherlands, Impacts on Supply There is some concern that some conventional bus services may be replaced by Regiotaxis in the future (Mott MacDonald, 2008a). If this were to occur in a deregulated environment, it might speed up the decline of public transport usage in rural areas. Contribution to Objectives
Case Study 2 : PubliCar, Switzerland Context The information in this Section is based primarily on Mott MacDonald (2008c) Context These schemes allow the possibility of offering public transport services in medium to low density areas, including suburban areas as well as small towns and their surroundings in rural areas, where traditional public transport cannot satisfy the needs of travellers in a cost efficient way. The aim of the service is to offer a basic level of public transport in those regions where no regular, scheduled public transport service is feasible and where greater levels of flexibility are required. The service operates through 32 regions of Switzerland. The first service began operation as a trial in 1995. In general, national public transport tickets are valid on PubliCar services. However, a surcharge has to be paid. This surcharge ranges from CHF1 to CHF3 per journey. Impacts on demand For an example scheme (PubliCar Vaud) the number of users have increased from 4000 in 1996 when it was first introduced to 110,000 in 2005. The increase could be explained by the addition of new zones to this operation, as well as the implementation of a computerised booking system. Impacts on Supply Some PubliCar services have been successfully transformed from DRT services to conventional bus services as they have gained commercial viability. One of the Directors of the PubliCar Scheme quoted in Mott MacDonald (2008c) suggested that the success of the PublicCar Scheme could be judged by its “disappearance” i.e. “if PubliCar has a good level of patronage for some journeys, then a bus service can be created allowing for PubliCar to service other areas and residents.” Other Impacts Surveys have indicated that some people are still hesitant about PubliCar as their bus has been removed and now they have to book in advance. In addition, young people who are entitled to free public transport now have to pay a premium for PubliCar. The counterargument from the service provider is that the premium service which is (almost) door to door provides peace of mind especially during the hours of darkness. Contribution to Objectives
Gaps and Weaknesses It has been stated in the studies that DRT has promoted equity and social inclusion. However there are no empirical evidence to support anecdotal knowledge. In addition, it is not clear what these travellers would have done otherwise in the absence of DRT. In addition, it is not stated what proportion of passengers belong in the “captive” category of users or whether they had a car available for their journeys. Hence it becomes difficult to examine and understand the role that DRT can play in supporting modal shift and the consequent efficiency savings.
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