three - The path toward integrated systems

Summary

Introduction

The main goal of an urban transport system is to provide accessibility for the inhabitants of an urban region. As this book shows, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects can play an important role in urban mobility, but they cannot stand alone. A combination of different transport modes is needed to serve the demand which varies across different times and geographical areas of the region. Residents have to navigate the transport system to reach their destinations. The service they receive depends on the characteristics of each of the segments they must follow (including the access to and egress from public transport) and the experience of transfer between them. The system will provide a higher level of service to its users if it is designed for passengers to move between trip legs as smoothly as possible, and if they understand the system's inherent complexity so as to be able to find their best possible route choice (see Chapters Twelve and Thirteen). The more convenient transfer experiences are within the system as a whole (for example, no additional fare and a short walk), the better the use that passengers will make of the available network of services. Alternatively, passengers may avoid certain service combinations due to inconvenient transfer experiences. Thus, users (and therefore the urban region) will always benefit from offering an integrated system with seamless transfers.

An integrated network that provides seamless access between all points is ideal; however, this is a complicated undertaking, especially when the system is fragmented into different authorities or decision makers, or when the starting point is an informal bus network, as described in Chapter Four. In this chapter we discuss the challenges faced by two integration pathways – sudden and gradual – and suggest a framework for advancing public transport integration which mitigates the main issues observed in these cases. The framework is designed for implementing integrated public transport systems in a context where regulation is insufficient and multiple private operators are involved. We found that this context is quite common, particularly in developing countries.

The issue of public transport integration

Integration has been a recurring topic in transport policy. Preston (2012) traces back the policies for transport integration in the UK to 1947 and in Europe to 1952, but indicates that integration has proven hard to achieve in practice due to the difficulty of defining and operationalising integration.