Bhargab Maitra

Valuing Urban Bus Attributes: An Experience in Kolkata

The article presents the marginal willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates for various qualitative and quantitative attributes of travel with reference to the bus transportation system in Kolkata City, India. A stated choice experiment is designed to capture the responses for estimating marginal WTP values for various attributes. WTP values are estimated separately for commuting and noncommuting trips. The effects of model specification and socioeconomic parameters on WTP values are also studied. Estimates from standard multinomial logit (MNL) and different random parameter logit (RPL) models indicate that WTP values vary with model specification. In the process of developing RPL models, successful application of sparsely used constrained triangular distribution is also demonstrated.

MODELING GENERALIZED COST OF TRAVEL FOR RURAL BUS USERS: A CASE STUDY

In order to formulate rational improvement proposals for rural bus services, it is necessary to understand how people value different attributes of travel. In this article, the disutilities of travel have been modeled based on stated choice data collected from trip makers traveling along a rural bus route in Midnapur District, West Bengal, India. Multinomal Logit Model is used to develop utility equations and the total disutility of travel is estimated in the form of generalized cost. The perceived values associated with in-vehicle travel time, service headway, and comfort level for the study route are estimated and found to be significant.

Stated Preference Approach for Valuation of Travel Time Displayed as Traffic Information on a VMS Board

A stated preference (SP) approach is explored for valuation of travel time displayed as traffic information on a variable message sign (VMS) board. Two types of traffic information (called as TI-I and TI-II) are investigated and the valuation is carried out separately for private car and taxi users. Instantaneous travel time is considered as traffic information in TI-I, while instantaneous travel time along with its variation level is considered as traffic information in TI-II. The SP (choice based) data are analyzed by multinomial logit and random parameter logit (RPL) models. In RPL models, the random parameters are assumed to follow constrained triangular distribution, where mean equals its spread. The decomposition of preference heterogeneity around the mean of random parameter is also investigated in RPL models. A variation is observed in the values of travel time under TI-I and TI-II, highlighting the role of the content of VMS based travel-time information. Both travel time as traffic information a...

Commuters’ Perception towards Transfer Facility Attributes in and Around Metro Stations: Experience in Kolkata

AbstractThis article reports an investigation on the importance of various transfer facility attributes in and around metro stations and their derived ranking with reference to a case study in the city of Kolkata, India. A paper-based survey instrument was designed and responses in terms of rating on a five-point Likert-type ordinal scale were collected from metro commuters in Kolkata. The data were analyzed using three established methods, namely, technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), RIDIT analysis, and gray relation analysis (GRA), in order to understand the variation, if any, in the derived rankings of attributes obtained from these methods. A comparison of rankings obtained from these methods using Spearman’s rank order correlation coefficients indicates a positive rank order relationship among all the three methods. The results consistently indicate commuters’ priority on qualitative attributes of transfer facility and contradict the common belief that the metro fa...

Willingness-to-pay for solid waste management service attributes: Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, India, as a case study

This paper examines public perceptions towards qualitative and quantitative attributes of a solid waste management (SWM) system in terms of willingness-to-pay (WTP) values. A stated choice (SC) survey instrument was designed and data was collected from residents in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) of West Bengal, India. Respondents were approached randomly and face-to-face interviews were carried out. The behavioural data collected from residents are analysed by developing a standard multinomial logit (MNL) model and model coefficients are used for calculating the WTP values. Using the WTP values, the total disutility of SWM system is expressed in the form of generalised cost (GC).

Valuing attributes of enhanced traffic information: An experience in Kolkata

Abstract Most of the traffic information considers a single item like travel time or delay. In the present work, enhanced traffic information displaying instantaneous travel time and its variation from the previous interval to the present, is considered. An initial investigation is made on the effectiveness of such traffic information on route choice behavior of trip makers by valuation of attributes of the traffic information. Taking a case study of two urban corridors in the Kolkata metro city, India, the valuation is done separately for private car and taxi trip makers. The stated preference (choice based) data collected from trip makers are analyzed using both multinomial logit (MNL) and mixed logit (ML) modeling techniques. Assuming sparsely used constrained triangular distribution of random parameters, two different types of ML model are developed: one with independent choice sets and the other one by accounting heterogeneity around the mean of random parameter(s). Both family income and trip purpos...

Modeling stream speed in heterogeneous traffic environment using ANN‐lessons learnt

Abstract In order to model traffic stream speed resulting from complex interactions among different vehicle types in a heterogeneous/mixed traffic volume, an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) approach is exploited. Two different categories of ANN model are attempted based on input vectors used. The performance of both categories of ANN model is evaluated using traditional evaluation framework. In addition, relevant logical test is carried out with both categories of ANN model. It is shown that selection of suitable input vectors and carrying out of relevant logical test are the two essential components for ANN model development process.

Urban Public Transportation System in the Context of Climate Change Mitigation: Emerging Issues and Research Needs in India

The transportation sector contributes significantly towards Green House Gas (GHG) emissions which are contributing factors for the global climate change. In developing countries, such as India, the share of urban transportation sector in overall vehicular emissions is significant. The present chapter reports increase in urbanization, growth of vehicle population and characteristics of urban transportation in India. The chapter highlights the need for increasing public transportation ridership as an instrument for reducing traffic congestion and vehicular emissions. The opportunities and challenges associated with urban public transportation systems are identified and the recent initiatives for improvement of urban public transportation system are reported. Finally, the research needs for improvement of public transportation system in urban India in the context of climate change mitigation are highlighted.

Priority Areas of Intervention for Improving Urban Bus Services: Experience in Kolkata, India

Priority areas of intervention for the improvement of urban bus services were investigated and identified in the city of Kolkata, India. A paper-based survey was conducted to collect responses from choice riders (who own a car and predominantly travel by car or taxi) and captive riders (who do not own a car and predominantly travel by bus). The choice riders and captive riders identified air-conditioned (AC) and non-air-conditioned bus services, respectively, as two areas for intervention. Revised importance–performance analysis and fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm were used to analyze responses. Trip attributes were classified under three satisfaction factors (basic, performance, and excitement), and various management schemes were identified for AC and non-AC bus services. The areas of intervention were identified by analyzing the factor structures of travelers and the management schemes for the bus services derived from the perceptions of the travelers. Results indicated that choice riders and captive riders had distinct travel requirements and that their priority areas of intervention for improving AC and non-AC services also were different. With the requirements of choice riders and captive riders, these results offer direction for improving bus service in Kolkata. The methodology also could be used to formulate policies and measures for service improvement in other contexts.

Development and Application of a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Tool for Solid Waste Management: Kolkata as a Case Study

Solid Waste Management (SWM) is a major challenge for developing countries due to rapid increase in Solid Waste (SW) generation rates and financial constraints for proper management. Poorly managed SW causes severe consequences to society like financial and aesthetic degradation, environmental pollution and is a serious health hazard. SWM consists of six functional elements: generation, storage, collection, transfer, processing or treatment and disposal. Current regulations hold the administrative, i.e., municipal authority responsible for SWM and all expenditure on collection, transfer, processing and disposal of SW has to be met using the financial resources available. The main sources of revenue for any municipal authority are municipal or property tax and octroi. In a survey of municipal budgets and revenues for five major cities in India, 38 to 83% of the revenues were derived from these sources (Sekhar and Bidarkar 2013). Non-tax revenue, grants and other contributions formed the remaining part of the total revenues. In general, policy makers prepare SWM plans by optimizing expenditure on collection, transfer, processing and disposal of SW which is proportionate to municipal tax based on direct costs to households. Additional expenditure to be incurred by the municipal authority in improving the system has to be recovered from the community as additional municipal tax. Also, any savings by the municipal authority are transferred to the households in terms of tax relief. However, these SWM plans fail to account for inconvenience costs to users and environmental costs.