How can intermediate public transportation (IPT) benefit from a service management emphasis to envision the sustainable mobility of the future? Answering this question, this paper reviews IPT, which includes modes such as the Access Link and Kutsuplus schemes, auto-rickshaws, and e-bike taxis. These modes represent new mobility services that have emerged in both developed and developing countries in the wake of evolving travel demands, soaring private vehicle ownership, and declining public transit ridership. Despite the emerging nature of IPT, however, it remains underrepresented and poorly understood in transportation frameworks, and so is generally excluded from transportation reforms. With this premise, this review accentuates how IPT services can be improved and made more attractive to users by mainstreaming service management issues. Further, this review outlines how improvement of IPT can help in unlocking the sustainable mobility of the future. This research therefore stems from a multidisciplinary review set involving scholarship in engineering management, operations management, operations research, transportation engineering, and transportation management. The paper outlines diverse facets of service management from which IPT can benefit. Furthermore, the paper theorizes on how IPT can contribute to sustainable mobility.
JoshiN. N.LambertJ. H.Equity Metrics with Risk, Performance, and Cost Objectives for the Prioritization of Transportation Projects. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 54, No. 3, 2007, pp. 539–547. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2007.900790.
2.
FalchettaG.NoussanM.HammadA. T.Comparing Paratransit in Seven Major African Cities: An Accessibility and Network Analysis. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 94, 2021, p. 103131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103131.
3.
KunhikrishnanP.SrinivasanK. K.Investigating Behavioral Differences in the Choice of Distinct Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) Modes for Work Trips in Chennai City. Transport Policy, Vol. 61, 2018, pp. 111–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2017.10.006.
4.
ZhuZ.XuA.HeQ. C.YangH.Competition Between the Transportation Network Company and the Government with Subsidies to Public Transit Riders. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Vol. 152, 2021, p. 102426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2021.102426.
5.
MartínezL. M.ViegasJ. M.EiróT.Formulating a New Express Minibus Service Design Problem as a Clustering Problem. Transportation Science, Vol. 49, No. 1, 2015, pp. 85–98.
6.
DavisonL.EnochM.RyleyT.QuddusM.WangC.Identifying Potential Market Niches for Demand Responsive Transport. Research in Transportation Business & Management, Vol. 3, 2012, pp. 50–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2012.04.007.
7.
RahimiM.AmirgholyM.GonzalesE. J.System Modeling of Demand Responsive Transportation Services: Evaluating Cost Efficiency of Service and Coordinated Taxi Usage. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation, Vol. 112, 2018, pp. 66–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2018.02.005.
8.
JokinenJ. P.SihvolaT.MladenovicM. N.Policy Lessons from the Flexible Transport Service Pilot Kutsuplus in the Helsinki Capital Region. Transport Policy, Vol. 76, 2019, pp. 123–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2017.12.004.
9.
GadepalliR.TiwariG.BoliaN.Role of User’s Socio-Economic and Travel Characteristics in Mode Choice Between City Bus and Informal Transit Services: Lessons from Household Surveys in Visakhapatnam, India. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 88, 2020, p. 102307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2018.08.017.
10.
TalaminiG.FerreiraD. P.An Informal Transportation as a Feeder of the Rapid Transit System. Spatial Analysis of the E-Bike Taxi Service in Shenzhen, China. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Vol. 1, 2019, p. 100002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100002.
11.
EhebrechtD.HeinrichsD.LenzB.Motorcycle-Taxis in Sub-Saharan Africa: Current Knowledge, Implications for the Debate on “Informal” Transport and Research Needs. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 69, 2018, pp. 242–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2018.05.006.
12.
AmbrosinoG.NelsonJ. D.BoeroM.PettinelliI.Enabling Intermodal Urban Transport Through Complementary Services: From Flexible Mobility Services to the Shared Use Mobility Agency: Workshop 4. Developing Inter-Modal Transport Systems. Research in Transportation Economics, Vol. 59, 2016, pp. 179–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2016.07.015.
13.
SinghM.India’s Shift from Mass Transit to MaaS Transit: Insights from Kochi. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 131, 2020, pp. 219–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2019.09.037.
Mateo-BabianoI.RecioR. B.AshmoreD. P.GuillenM. D.GaspayM. S.Formalising the Jeepney Industry in the Philippines – A Confirmatory Thematic Analysis of Key Transitionary Issues. Research in Transportation Economics, Vol. 83, 2020, p. 100839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100839.
16.
LiaoZ.Taxi Dispatching via Global Positioning Systems. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 48, No. 3, 2001, pp. 342–347. https://doi.org/10.1109/17.946533.
17.
JavidI.JuremalaniJ.Critical Appraisal on Study of Paratransit (Auto-Rickshaw) Mode of Urban Transportation System Under Mix Traffic Conditions. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Emerging Research, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2018, pp. 211–214.
18.
MolenbruchY.BraekersK.CarisA.Typology and Literature Review for Dial-a-Ride Problems. Annals of Operations Research, Vol. 259, No. 1–2, 2017, pp. 295–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-017-2525-0.
19.
WongY. Z.HensherD. A.MulleyC.Mobility as a Service (MaaS): Charting a Future Context. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 131, 2020, pp. 5–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2019.09.030.
20.
MarkardJ.RavenR.TrufferB.Sustainability Transitions: An Emerging Field of Research and Its Prospects. Research Policy, Vol. 41, No. 6, 2012, pp. 955–967. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2012.02.013.
LiberatiA.AltmanD. G.TetzlaffJ.MulrowC.GøtzscheP. C.IoannidisJ. P. A.ClarkeM.DevereauxP. J.KleijnenJ.MoherD.The PRISMA Statement for Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Studies That Evaluate Health Care Interventions: Explanation and Elaboration. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Vol. 62, No. 10, 2009, pp. e1–e34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2009.06.006.
23.
TembeA.NakamuraF.TanakaS.AriyoshiR.MiuraS.The Demand for Public Buses in Sub-Saharan African Cities: Case Studies from Maputo and Nairobi. IATSS Research, Vol. 43, No. 2, 2019, pp. 122–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iatssr.2018.10.003.
24.
van LieropD.EftekhariJ.HaraA. O.GrinspunY.Humanizing Transit Data: Connecting Customer Experience Statistics to Individuals’ Unique Transit Stories. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019. 2673: 388–402.
25.
TariganA. K. M.SusiloY. O.JoewonoT. B.Segmentation of Paratransit Users Based on Service Quality and Travel Behaviour in Bandung, Indonesia. Transportation Planning and Technology, Vol. 37, No. 2, 2014, pp. 200–218. https://doi.org/10.1080/03081060.2013.870792.
26.
Te MorscheW.PuelloL. L. P.GeursK. T.Potential Uptake of Adaptive Transport Services: An Exploration of Service Attributes and Attitudes. Transport Policy, Vol. 84, 2019, pp. 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2019.09.001.
27.
KimJ. Y.BartholomewK.EwingR.Another One Rides the Bus? The Connections Between Bus Stop Amenities, Bus Ridership, and ADA Paratransit Demand. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 135, 2020, pp. 280–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2020.03.019.
28.
NygaA.MinnichA.SchlüterJ.The Effects of Susceptibility, Eco-Friendliness and Dependence on the Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for a Door-to-Door DRT System. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 132, 2020, pp. 540–558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2019.11.030.
29.
RahmanF.DasT.HossainS.Perceived Service Quality of Paratransit in Developing Countries: A Structural Equation Approach. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 93, 2016, pp. 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.08.008.
30.
BaktiI. G. M. Y.SumaediS.P-TRANSQUAL: A Service Quality Model of Public Land Transport Services. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol. 32, No. 6, 2015, pp. 534–558. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-06-2013-0094.
31.
LewisD.EvansT.KoffmanD.Impact of Reliability on Paratransit Demand and Operating Costs. Transportation Planning and Technology, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1998, pp. 323–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/03081069808717615.
32.
DomarchiC.CoeymansJ. E.OrtúzarJ. de D.Shared Taxis: Modelling the Choice of a Paratransit Mode in Santiago de Chile. Transportation, Vol. 46, No. 6, 2019, pp. 2243–2268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-018-9926-z.
33.
MuelasS.LatorreA.PeñaJ.A Distributed VNS Algorithm for Optimizing Dial-a-Ride Problems in Large-Scale Scenarios. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 54, 2015, pp. 110–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2015.02.024.
34.
MarkovićN.KimM. E.SchonfeldP.Statistical and Machine Learning Approach for Planning Dial-a-Ride Systems. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 89, 2016, pp. 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.05.006.
35.
Čubranić-DobrodolacM.ŠvadlenkaL.MarkovićG. Z.DobrodolacM.A Decision Support Model for Transportation Companies to Examine Driver Behavior. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 70, No. 10, 2023, pp. 3665–3677. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2021.3102879.
36.
WangC.QuddusM.EnochM.RyleyT.DavisonL.Multilevel Modelling of Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) Trips in Greater Manchester Based on Area-Wide Socio-Economic Data. Transportation, Vol. 41, No. 3, 2014, pp. 589–610. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-013-9506-1.
37.
DekaD.GonzalesE. J.The Generators of Paratransit Trips by Persons with Disabilities. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 70, 2014, pp. 181–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2014.10.018.
38.
ShenC.QuadrifoglioL.Evaluation of Zoning Design with Transfers for Paratransit Services. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2012. 2277: 82–89.
39.
DavisonL.EnochM.RyleyT.QuddusM.WangC.A Survey of Demand Responsive Transport in Great Britain. Transport Policy, Vol. 31, 2014, pp. 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2013.11.004.
40.
ZografosK. G.AndroutsopoulosK. N.SihvolaT.A Methodological Approach for Developing and Assessing Business Models for Flexible Transport Systems. Transportation, Vol. 35, No. 6, 2008, pp. 777–795. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-008-9176-6.
41.
MulleyC.DanielsR.Quantifying the Role of a Flexible Transport Service in Reducing the Accessibility Gap in Low Density Areas: A Case-Study in North-West Sydney. Research in Transportation Business & Management, Vol. 3, 2012, pp. 12–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2012.04.006.
42.
DikasG.MinisI.Scheduled Paratransit Transport Systems. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Vol. 67, 2014, pp. 18–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trb.2014.05.001.
43.
DjavadianS.ChowJ. Y. J.An Agent-Based Day-to-Day Adjustment Process for Modeling “Mobility as a Service” with a Two-Sided Flexible Transport Market. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Vol. 104, 2017, pp. 36–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trb.2017.06.015.
44.
AtasoyB.IkedaT.SongX.Ben-AkivaM. E.The Concept and Impact Analysis of a Flexible Mobility on Demand System. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 56, 2015, pp. 373–392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2015.04.009.
45.
FinnB.Towards Large-Scale Flexible Transport Services: A Practical Perspective from the Domain of Paratransit. Research in Transportation Business & Management, Vol. 3, 2012, pp. 39–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2012.06.010.
46.
OlveraL. D.PlatD.PochetP.Looking for the Obvious: Motorcycle Taxi Services in Sub-Saharan African Cities. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 88, 2019, p. 102476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2019.102476.
47.
SamahaP.MohtarA.Decoding an Urban Myth: An Inquiry into the Van Line 4 System in Beirut, Lebanon. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 85, 2020, p. 102743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102743.
48.
SalomonI.SingerM. E.“Informal Travel”: A New Conceptualization of Travel Patterns?Transport Reviews, Vol. 34, No. 5, 2014, pp. 562–582. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2014.930075.
49.
GolalikhaniM.OliveiraB. B.CarravillaM. A.OliveiraJ. F.AntunesA. P.Carsharing: A Review of Academic Literature and Business Practices Toward an Integrated Decision-Support Framework. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Vol. 149, 2021, p. 102280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2021.102280.
50.
ChoiT. M.KumarS.YueX.ChanH. L.Disruptive Technologies and Operations Management in the Industry 4.0 Era and Beyond. Production and Operations Management, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2022, pp. 9–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.13622.
51.
SoomroM. A.LiY.HanY.Socioeconomic and Political Issues in Transportation Public-Private Partnership Failures. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 69, No. 5, 2022, pp. 2073–2087. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2020.2997361.
52.
BrakeJ.MulleyC.NelsonJ. D.WrightS.Key Lessons Learned from Recent Experience with Flexible Transport Services. Transport Policy, Vol. 14, No. 6, 2007, pp. 458–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2007.09.001.
53.
SaddierS.PattersonZ.JohnsonA.WisemanN.Fickle or Flexible? Assessing Paratransit Reliability with Smartphones in Accra, Ghana. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2017. 2650: 9–17.
54.
YuanaS. L.SengersF.BoonW.RavenR.Framing the Sharing Economy: A Media Analysis of Ridesharing Platforms in Indonesia and the Philippines. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 212, 2019, pp. 1154–1165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.073.
55.
SharmeenF.DrostD.MeursH.A Business Model Perspective to Understand Intra-Firm Transitions: From Traditional to Flexible Public Transport Services. Research in Transportation Economics, Vol. 83, 2020, p. 100959. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100959.
56.
LoganP.Best Practice Responsive Transport (DRT) Policy. Road & Transport Research: A Journal of Australian and New Zealand Research and Practice, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2007, pp. 3–12.
57.
FerreiraL.CharlesP.TetherC.Evaluating Flexible Transport Solutions. Transportation Planning and Technology, Vol. 30, No. 2–3, 2007, pp. 249–269.
58.
LoveP. E. D.IkaL. A.MatthewsJ.FangW.Curbing Poor-Quality in Large-Scale Transport Infrastructure Projects. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 69, No. 6, 2020, pp. 3171–3183. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2020.3031890.
ShindeA. M.DikshitA. K.SinghR. K.Comparison of Life Cycle Environmental Performance of Public Road Transport Modes in Metropolitan Regions. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2019, pp. 605–624. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-018-01661-1.
61.
NugrohoS. B.ZusmanE.Estimating Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Paratransit in Bandung, Indonesia: Reducing the Transaction Costs of Generating Conservative Emissions Baselines. Natural Resources Forum, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2015, pp. 53–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-8947.12065.
62.
NugrohoS. B.ZusmanE.Low Carbon Paratransit in Jakarta, Indonesia: Using Econometric Models to Improve the Enabling Environment. Case Studies on Transport Policy, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2018, pp. 342–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2018.03.006.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
