Key Aspects for IT-Services Integration in Urban Transit Service of Medium-Sized Cities: A Qualitative Exploratory Study in Colombia

Tomas Ramirez-Guerrero, Mauricio Toro, Marta S. Tabares, Ricardo Salazar-Cabrera and Álvaro Pachón de la Cruz
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Tomas Ramirez-Guerrero: Maintenance Research Group (GEMI), Universidad EAFIT, Medellin 050022, Colombia
Mauricio Toro: Maintenance Research Group (GEMI), Universidad EAFIT, Medellin 050022, Colombia
Marta S. Tabares: R&D&I in Information and Communication Technologies Research Group (GIDITIC), Universidad EAFIT, Medellin 050022, Colombia
Ricardo Salazar-Cabrera: Telematics Engineering Research Group (GIT), Telematics Department, Universidad del Cauca, Popayan 190001, Colombia
Álvaro Pachón de la Cruz: Information Technology and Telecommunications Research Group (I2T), ICT Department, Universidad Icesi, Cali 760001, Colombia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-20

Abstract: In the last ten years, approximately, urban transit systems of Latin American capital cities have evolved significantly. Colombia, specifically, has concentrated this development in its capital cities, consolidated through digital transformation programs in the transportation sector. However, the same phenomenon does not occur in medium-sized cities for different reasons that are important to analyze. This paper presents an exploratory qualitative study involving eight medium-sized cities in the implementation phase of their strategic urban transit systems. Three main aspects that drive this study were identified: technologies and their cost, functional requirements to implement information technology services in transit systems, and economy and administration associated with this type of implementation. Based on this, a semi-structured interview data collection instrument was designed, with the participation of 15 officials distributed in the eight target cities, and one expert from an intelligent transportation system in a capital city. With the information collected, an exploratory analysis was made contrasting the responses given by each interviewee. The most relevant results show that the interviewees prioritize technologies based on open standards to provide information to users; that the northern medium-sized cities of the country do not have strategies that regularize and motivate the use of public transportation; instead, the southern medium-sized cities of the country consider the use of transportation to be necessary. Finally, it was concluded that the information technology services to be included in the provision of transit services should promote these cities’ cultural and economic growth.

Keywords: information technology; public transportation; interviews; IT services; functional requirements; intelligent transportation systems; prioritization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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