Management Solutions for Improved Service Operation: Bus Rapid Transit System

Public Transport is a much talked about subject. With the ever increasing traffic and vehicle ownership it is pertinent to look at public transport comprehensively and holistically for making it accessible, comfortable and convenient for citizens to travel within a city. The density of private vehicles in the country is increasing, the effects of which can be felt on the road with increasing traffic, pollution and time delays. The easy access to two wheelers both in terms of convenience and affordability makes matter worse for public transport in India. Higher motorization leads to decline in public transport usage. Along with the comfort that a private mode offers it is the lack of appropriate public transport too which adds to the woes of traffic.

Many cities in India have started a dedicated high priority bus lane called Bus Rapid Transit System to make bus transport fast and comfortable on select routes within a city.

This services operation exercise attempts to look at different aspects of public transportation with specific reference to Bus Rapid Transit System with a view to identifying ways and means by which the systems can be made smoother for citizens to adopt and sustain travel modes of public transit. The studio looked at aspects of Contract Management, Fare determination, Fare collection and ticketing, Depot Management, Bus maintenance and Incident Management, Integration of feeder systems, Revenue Management, Intelligent Transit Management Systems and Adoption strategies with proposals to streamline and better manage each function with efficiency for better traveller comfort and experience. A case city was chosen to conduct the study and apply the operations tools from a service perspective. Transport is a service its operations need to be looked at from a service perspective to be able to professionally manage and cater to different customer segments. Segmentation, pricing, user behaviour and strategic management tools and techniques were used for arriving at innovative improvement strategies.