Introduction to Transit Service Planning

To design and evaluate contractual arrangements for transit service delivery, it is crucial to understand the risks assumed by the actors involved. This understanding in turn clarifies the incentive structures of the contracts and their expected effects as well as explains the performance and development of public transport systems. This study examined urban bus contracts and presented a framework that grouped the risks inherent in any transit system, extended the usual dimensions of the analysis, and allowed for the examination of more complex contracts. This methodology was applied to current contracts of Transantiago, in Chile, which had been in effect since mid-2012, and showed that various contractual mechanisms transferred risks to the transit authorities. These mechanisms were shown to reduce operators’ revenue risk from 70% to around 25%, to weaken incentives, and to move the system further away from the 2012 reform objectives. This situation contributed to the persistence of a serious problem of buses skipping stops and fare evasion. In addition, a large proportion of users were captive to a single operator; this setup generated incentive issues in service planning. The analysis advised against the inclusion of demand risk reduction clauses because they might guarantee part of the operators’ income. Instead, stronger incentives could be generated by reducing the importance of the passengers transported in the payment formula while increasing that of service indicators. Complementarily, new solutions to the system’s remaining problems are suggested for further research, such as direct penalties for skipping stops or payments directly linked to fare evasion rates.

Download Full-text

Forecasting Method of Long-Distance Rail Passenger Demand Fluctuations by Day/Time to Support Extra Train Transport Service Planning

IEEJ Transactions on Industry Applications ◽

10.1541/ieejias.140.769 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 140 (10) ◽

pp. 769-781

Author(s):

Ryosuke Matsumoto ◽

Daiki Okuda ◽

Noriko Fukasawa

Keyword(s):

Service Planning ◽

Transport Service ◽

Long Distance ◽

Passenger Demand ◽

Forecasting Method ◽

Demand Fluctuations

Download Full-text

Met and unmet needs among adults with mild to moderate intellectual disability with and without mental health problems

10.31234/osf.io/ztrjg ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Matthias Schützwohl

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Intellectual Disability ◽

Unmet Needs ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

Health Problems ◽

Service Planning ◽

Support Needs ◽

Behaviour Problem ◽

Prevalence Rates

Background: People with an intellectual disability (ID) show a great number and complex constellation of support needs. With respect to the planning of services, it is important to assess needs at the population level. ID services need to know to what extent support needs of clients with mental health problems differ from support needs of clients without any mental health problem.Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence rates of needs in relevant study groups. Methods: Data was generated from the MEMENTA-Study (“Mental health care for adults with intellectual disability and a mental disorder”). The Camberwell Assessment of Need for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities (CANDID) was used to assess met und unmet support needs. Data was available for n=248 adults with mild to moderate ID.Results: Mean total number of needs and unmet needs was associated with mental health status. However, in most particular areas under study, individuals without significant psychiatric symptoms or any behaviour problem needed as much as often help as individuals with such mental health problems. A higher rate of need for care among study participants with significant psychiatric symptoms or any behaviour problem was mainly found with regard to these specific areas (“minor mental health problems”, “major mental health problems”, “inappropriate behaviour”) or with regard to closely related areas (“safety of others”).Conclusions: Differences in prevalence rates mainly occurred in such areas of need that rather fall under the responsibility of mental health services than under the responsibility of ID services. This has implications for service planning.

Download Full-text

Production Theory and Community Services Planning: Application to Solid Waste Disposal

Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics ◽

10.1017/s0081305200011857 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 25-31

Author(s):

Marlys Knutson ◽

Michael Boehlje ◽

Dean Schreiner

Keyword(s):

Solid Waste ◽

Waste Disposal ◽

Community Services ◽

Service Planning ◽

Alternative Methods ◽

Solid Waste Disposal ◽

Accurate Analysis ◽

Transportation Services ◽

Goods And Services ◽

Labor Resources

A basic management responsibility in community service planning is to evaluate alternative methods of providing various public goods and services such as transportation services, sewage and solid waste disposal, and water for home and industry. These alternative methods frequently involve new or different technologies and various combinations of inputs such as capital and labor.For example, in the disposal of solid waste, the use of different sizes and types of bulldozers, compactors and cranes may lead to significantly different combinations of capital and labor resources. For accurate analysis, the quality and quantity of the service that can be provided with limited amounts of the various resources or inputs must be considered. Thus, the basic concepts that have been used in private business to allocate limited resources to obtain the desired output are equally applicable to the management and planning of community services.

Download Full-text