The Analysis of the Effects of a Fare Free Public Transport Travel Demand Based on E-Ticketing

Danijel Hojski, David Hazemali and Marjan Lep
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Danijel Hojski: Imovation, d.o.o, Jarška Cesta 10a, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
David Hazemali: Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Koroška Cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
Marjan Lep: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering and Architecture, University of Maribor, Smetanova Ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-16

Abstract: The traditional approach in public transport planning was to collect travel demand data for a more extended period and compose timetables to serve this demand. There are two significant identifiable issues. In the rural areas and off-peak hours, public transport operators provide much more capacities than needed. On the other hand, more capacities than scheduled are needed on certain lines at certain departures on some sporadically occurring occasions. The problem is how to react to short-term changes (daily) triggered by exceptional circumstances and events and midterm changes (weekly, monthly basis) in travel demand. We can trigger changes in travel demand chiefly by introducing a desirable (almost for free) tariff system applied to specific populations. No long-term travel response data exists for this kind of intervention, but an immediate response in public transport supply is needed. In Slovenia, public transport for free for the whole population over 65 years was introduced. With the modern ticketing system, which was designed to be as simple as possible for users (that means »check-in only« at the moment of boarding), the research task was to analyze the travel behavior of the retired population, faced with a new attractive option to travel, based on data of purchased tickets and their afterward validation, for better mid-and long-term planning. Our study finds that ITS technology (in this case, e-ticketing system) can satisfactorily solve the discussed planning and management task.

Keywords: fare-free public transport policy; smart card data collecting; elderly population mobility; travel demand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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