Madhav G. Badami

Urbanization and Local Governance Challenges in Pakistan

The state of municipal services and infrastructure has deteriorated in Pakistan over the years. With the rapid increase in urbanization in Pakistan the need for effective and efficient local governments is felt more now than ever. The checkered history of local government initiatives in the country has contributed to the poor state of municipal service delivery. The military regimes, in the past, used local governments to create a loyal cadre of politicians who the military later pitted against the democratic forces. With the return of civilian democratic rule in Pakistan, the local governments were often abolished because these institutions were viewed as part and parcel of the military dictatorships. The tug-of-war between the democratic governments and military regimes has left Pakistan with an inadequate local government framework. The challenge for the democratic forces in Pakistan is to realize the importance of local governments and there-fore to take steps to offer them constitutional cover. Failing to do so may lead to further deterioration of urban and rural environments.

What influences satisfaction and loyalty in public transport? A review of the literature

ABSTRACT Public transport ridership retention is a challenge for many cities. To develop comprehensive strategies aimed at retaining riders, it is necessary to understand the aspects of public transport that influence users to become loyal to the system. This paper analyses relevant literature regarding the causes of satisfaction and loyalty in public transport. We find that the service factors most associated with satisfaction are on-board cleanliness and comfort, courteous and helpful behaviour from operators, safety, as well as punctuality and frequency of service. On the other hand, loyalty is associated with users’ perceptions of value-for-money, on-board safety and cleanliness, interactions with personnel and the image and commitment to public transport that users feels. Furthermore, the results elucidate that the concept of loyalty is best defined based on users’ intentions to continue using the service, their willingness to recommend it to others, their overall satisfaction, but also and most importantly, their image of and involvement with public transport. Public transport users who have a positive image of the agency and consider public transport an integral component of city life are more likely to demonstrate loyalty and act like ambassadors for public transport agencies.

Motorized Two-Wheeled Vehicle Emissions in India: Behavioral and Institutional Issues

Motor vehicle activity is growing rapidly in Indian cities, as in other Asian cities, with serious impacts, including deteriorating urban air quality. Motorized two-wheeled (M2W) vehicles, which provide affordable mobility to millions, form the bulk of the motor vehicle fleet and contribute significantly to transport emissions. Vehicle and fuel technologies are important and have been vastly improved since the 1990s. However, on the basis of an in-depth survey of vehicle users and an analysis of emerging trends in consumer preferences, policies, and industry plans, this paper demonstrates various important ways in which user preferences and choices relating to vehicle purchase, operation, and maintenance, interacting with institutional and technological factors, contribute to emissions and affect policy implementation, particularly with reference to M2W vehicles in India. The paper highlights the importance of considering the interaction of these factors, and how users and other actors are affected by and respond to policies, in more effectively addressing emissions from M2W vehicles and other vehicles, especially given in-use realities and constraints.

Environmental policy-making in a difficult context: motorized two-wheeled vehicle emissions in India

Abstract Motor vehicle activity is growing rapidly in India and other less-industrialized countries in Asia. This growth is contributing to serious health and welfare effects due to vehicle emissions, and energy insecurity, acidification and climate change. This paper applies the problem-structuring tools of “value-focused thinking” to inform policy-making and implementation related to this complex problem in a difficult context, with specific reference to motorized two-wheeled vehicles, which play an important role in transport air pollution but also provide affordable mobility to millions with few other attractive options. The paper describes the process used to elicit and structure objectives and measures, based on interviews conducted by the author, and demonstrates how the objectives and measures can be used to more effectively characterize policy impacts, and create policy packages that have a better chance of long-term success.

Diagnosing Transportation: Developing Key Performance Indicators to Assess Urban Transportation Systems

Rapid urbanization is putting pressure on transportation agencies to respond to an increasing demand for transportation networks with greater effectiveness and efficiency. In response, policy makers, faced with limited budgets and time constraints, are looking for tools and processes to identify priority problems in a timely and cost-effective manner. Rapid assessments can be performed with diagnostic tools that identify cities’ transportation problems within the global context. Using a series of performance indicators that are based on a review of research and practice from around the world, this paper assesses cities’ transportation networks. The performance indicators rank cities according to an overall score as well as categories of transportation performance. Such an approach allows planners to identify priority problems in the transportation network to design targeted solutions. The final results benchmark the performance of transportation systems according to the performance of the systems in peer cities with relatively similar sizes. Such a process assists with the benchmarking of performance and accounts for context so that appropriate best practices can be shared between cities around the world.