Challenges Faced By Public Transport in New Delhi

The burgeoning needs of the public as a result of economic and social development have led to a rise in the demand for transport facilities (Singh, 2012). Taking a close look at New Delhi in India, local transit routes are majorly operated by the government and transport corporations with affiliations to local authorities in providing bus services in metropolitan cities. The transport system in New Delhi is facing pressure due to increased population in the city and intensified the level of industrial and commercial activities (Singh, 2016). In one of the studies that were conducted it was revealed that there is an enormous increase of private and intermediate transport facilities due to the limitations associated with the public transport.

Moreover, it has been pointed out that public transportation fails to be complemented with other modes of transport leading to most commuter delays that result in dissatisfaction, poor service delivery, and reduced standards and environmental pollution among other things. Given the above-stated circumstances, the research recommends that public transport must offer efficient services if it is to satisfy and improve customer satisfaction. There is an absolute need for measuring and monitoring the operation of the services that are offered by the transportation agencies in New Delhi due to the ongoing concerns and the attention given to the public transport as part of the urban transport system. Transport agencies need to measure and evaluate their performance with regards to safety, accessibility, service efficiency and financial effectiveness. The best way that transportation agencies can meet the needs and demands of today’s clients is to have a replacement of the Taylor approach with Total Quality Management (TQM). The implementation of TQM is not always easy and smooth during the transition. However, due to the change in global affairs, transport organizations have to challenge the conventional approaches or risk facing obsolescence.

TQM is a fundamental system that aims at ensuring institution-wide participation during planning and implementation of a continuous process aimed at the improvement that ensures customers’ expectations are exceeded. The concept of total quality control among the Japanese has come to be TQM (Metri, 2006).The U.S. Navy crafted the name Total Quality Management in 1985.It is since then that TQM gained popularity and widely used in many organizations specifically the manufacturing industry

Total quality management in urban transport entails focusing on strong commitments aimed at providing quality transport service, encouraging and vouching for learning skill (Metri, 2006). It also entails motivating workers to take pride in their efforts in delivering quality services supports a customer-oriented transport service legacy of continuous improvements that inculcates engagements to meet and exceed customer needs and preferences; green transport system and safety environment among other things.

Total Quality Management For Urban Transport In New Delhi

According to Deming, TQM involves a fourteen-point process in developing an institutional atmosphere where the statistical techniques are effective (Metri, 2006). The 14 points purport to enhance robust management engagements to good quality, process design and continuous search for and eliminating errors related to quality (Metri, 2006). Also, according to Deming, TQM involves embracing a purchasing policy that stresses on quality as opposed to the cost. Further, the TQM model is designed to eliminate all hindrances to employee involvements in teamwork. The models stress the role of effective product design and quality information systems.

The report employed a variety of sources of data collection. The first source entailed observing the current situation of urban transport in Delhi based on information that had been provided earlier. Also, interviews with various people in different departments were important in shading light on critical matters pertaining the transport system in Delhi. Data collection entailed a three-stage process that included case studies from previous studies, observations and interviews.

Qualitative research recognizes participative observation as an important method of collecting data and vital in gathering an authentic opinion into the internal processes. In this report, participative observation has been employed on many occasions to draw a realistic view of the current situation. In this report, participative observation is conducted by the researcher who acts as an observer, that was extended through asking questions that are relevant after observation.

The researcher began with observations as the initial source of data. The researcher has been involved in current issues of urban transport. Notes from observations have been archived to revert to them when the need arises. The limitation of this method of data collection is the fact that the researcher could only upgrade the notes only when informed about meetings in advance. Meetings that happened suddenly left no chance to archive such meetings and were thus excluded in data collection.

Interviews have linked to being the most effective instruments of data collection, particularly in case studies. Interviews, however, fail to provide a realistic picture. Interviews involve information about views and opinions by people that tend to be subjective rather than provide an authentic view of what took place and what people do in the process. This limitation was taken into account and the researcher instrument actions to overcome this limitation were taken into account by taking more interviews and selecting core participants. Structured and semi-structured interviews were employed in current analysis to shed light and understanding of the problems in urban transport and potential solutions to such problems.

Data Collection Methods

The December 2012 and the increase in the number of rape cases among Uber operators are only some of the many crimes of such kind that have continuously raised an alarm on the poor state of the public transport in New Delhi (Gosami & Pillai, 2016). However, the situation only deteriorates with time. For instance, the DTC bus network is the most commonly used transport system used in Delhi as it is reported to harbour approximately 4.5 million passengers on a daily basis. However, it is shocking as only less than 5% of the 4100 DTC buses have surveillance gadgets making it appear as if no safety mechanism has been implemented by the company. In 2014, the DTC made efforts that saw 200 buses installed with CCTV cameras that were non-Wi-Fi serving as an ongoing project. However, two years later, the number of buses with CCTV has not increased.

The Metro, on the other hand, is seen as a lone safe mode of transport, however, due to the absence of last-mile connectivity, the network has hobbled. Most bus stations are deserted after 9 pm and feeder bus facilities that link the Metro regions to residential places that are far-flung are either few or non-existent. In one of the studies that were led by Safetipin, an app for auditing spaces in public transport revealed that women who are located in areas such as Gurgaon stations found such areas unsafe majorly due to poor and feeble last-mile connectivity.

The 500-meter region located in IFFCO Chowk was ranked as the most unsafe region. The lack of a safe public transport has made women handle matters in their own way. One of the women, an IT expert revealed that she had a section in her handbag where she hid her safety gear that entailed pepper spray, a knife and a spotlight.

The AAP government gave assurances of its frantic efforts of deploying marshals in buses so as to keep the cases of sexual harassment manageable, however, the development has continued at a snail’s pace. Currently, only 2700 marshals have been deployed in the buses out of which 1000 are home security details and 1700 are volunteers of civil defence which is startling as the required figure is 8300.

The lack of enough marshals for the entire network has led to the marshals being deployed on a rotational basis. Most marshals are deployed in the evening and in the odd hours. In one of the tender that was floated entailed a deal that could see more than 400 security details for the 200 buses has led to a tepid response.

Lack of Adequate Safety Measures in Public Transport

However, the situation on the ground indicates that lack of adequate training might not be the solution to the existing problem. For instance, Raj Kishore who happens to be a marshal is a mechanic at DTC who is aged 54 years and is accustomed to the duty assigned to him on the 604 DTC route plied by the bus states that his primary objective during the eight-hour shift is not to encounter any altercations. He states that his children tell him most often that he should attend his duty without getting into any kind of trouble. He adds that at his age, an attempt to fight the hooligans might jeopardize his life.

The DTC has not only deployed home security details and volunteers from the civil defence but has also employed more than 300 mechanical staff that are approaching retirement.one of the ladies that was interviewed was expressing her worrying concern on one of the marshals deployed during a night shift. She stated that if someone tried to attack the aged marshal she would have to lead her hand and assist the marshal in dealing with the attacker though it is the marshal that should protect her.

The special buses that are designed to ferry ladies and ply on roads in the city are not enough as there are only 25 buses of that kind and each bus just makes one trip per day. Shockingly, the number of places that are labelled as dark spots are poorly lit with street lighting, yet such areas are more than 250 in Delhi. One of the police officials interviewed expressed his fears that the number of locations keeps changing, however, in any day of the week, the number of regions that are poorly lit never goes below the 200 thresholds.

Also, the Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (DTIDCL) has been requested to provide adequate lighting at Bus Queue Shelters and the police are tasked with deploying a policeman at such designated areas. However, that too has been poorly implemented.

According to a psychologist who is also a trustee of the Manas Foundation, patriarchy and the values tied to it are deeply embedded in the general consciousness. Diversified shades of it are found across all groups in a society and drivers are thus not to be left out. In one of the sessions attended by HT, drivers were involved in role-playing and narration of stories in revealing that gender roles and patriarchy not only impacts on women but also men.

Challenges Faced By Marshals Deployed In Buses

In another interview, a participant who wanted to remain synonymous stated that apart from having his attitude change for his women passengers, his attitude towards his children and wife changed after participating and attending the session. The participant added that the drivers were busy becoming men that are expected as per the current world forgetting to become human. He stated that all problems can be solved if women are treated as equals. He concluded that women do not need protection from men, they only do not need to be troubled.

According to the surveys conducted, passengers have expressed their views of Delhi Metro as the comfiest mode that commuters use in Delhi (Hindu Business Line, 2013). The survey included more than 80,000 respondents during the week of Customer Satisfaction that ran from mid-July towards the end of July in more than 20 Metro stations that have been reported having the highest record of ridership (The Hindu Business Line, 2013). The commuters who participated in the survey rated DMRC as having the highest comfort with 7 out of 10 and its customer care was ranked at 7.3 and was closely followed by information dissemination at 7.3 (The Hindu Business Line, 2013). Surveys were conducted on 8 crucial dimensions of Metro operations and each dimension was composed of the weekly theme of the survey. The topics that were addressed included availability, information, customer care and safety and security and the commuter linked aspects that existed beyond the metro station. Many subheads were developed for each of the above-mentioned dimensions the passengers were requested to rate such services based on a scale for instance, excellent, very good and satisfactory among others. Some of the primary subheads entailed: modes available to DMRC system, timings with regards to first and last train, the frequency of trains, availability of facilities for the disabled and the aged and availability of parking among other items.

According to the findings of the survey, it was revealed that a large number of commuters were satisfied with the quality of service that was offered to them and Delhi Metro was rated as very good. However, the spokesman of DMRC stated in a press statement that DMRC will not relax based on such laurels and that DMRC will continue serving the public with outstanding dedication and commitments and will implement improvements whenever relevant and required. However, according to the concerns that were raised as per the area that needed improvement was the sector of smart cards and tokens, the condition of the roads and the issue of beggar nuisance beyond the metro stations.

Inadequate Special Buses Designed for Women

Among the respondents that participated in the survey,76 percent were males and the rest were females. Individuals from the service sector and students were part of the large ridership as they comprised of 63 and 30 percent of all the respondents respectively (The Hindu Business Line, 2013). Commuters that belonged to the age bracket of between 19 and 30 years of age formed the majority group among respondents as they accounted for 69 percent while those belonging to the age group between 31 and 50 years were ranked as the second largest group as they accounted for 22 percent. Currently, the ridership of Delhi Metro has gone beyond 20 lakhs (The Hindu Business Line, 2013).

The success of a public transport in the city relies on the number of people that use the services of a bus. It is estimated that approximately 40% of commuters that is 50 lakhs in Delhi travel by bus on a daily basis (Mathur, 2014). Though the number represents an increase from the 22 lakhs as reported in a study that was conducted in 2008. Experts expressed their opinion that it was necessary to increase the number of buses and improve ridership by raising to a noble 80% by 2020 as envisioned in the Masterplan of Delhi (Mathur, 2014). The former director of Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure advised that Delhi requires a bus system that operates on a high frequency and a high capacity. According to him, Delhi requires about 15000 buses by 2021 (Mathur, 2014). He also adds that bus stands should within the radius of a walking distance that is a 5-minute distance from all regions. The bus frequency according to him should take a maximum of 3 minutes during peak hours and 5 minutes during the off-peak periods.

Friction points in Delhi average speed for different runs

How to improve time efficiency

Brisbane has developed an initiative known as the managed Motorways program and refers to an incorporated utilization of the smart technology that enables proactive management of real-time on the Queensland transport network. The adoption of such an initiative in Delhi’s transport system in connection with an Intelligent Transport mechanism could assist in reducing travels that are based on stop-start, improve safety while disseminating information on the best times and routes to travel in a particular route.

The assessment of Delhi by the government portrays that the city should have more than 11,000 buses (Mathur, 2014). However, since DTC itself can operate such a huge fleet, the state divided its fleet between DTC and cluster bus service equally and such services are run and operated by Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System(DIMTS). The DTC has made arrangements of purchasing more than 1300 buses that will enable it to reach its set target of operating close to 5000 buses. However, such hopes are fading since there is lack of space where the buses get parked and this has denied DIMTS its ability to acquire such a fleet. Despite the number of buses increasing, the services are erratic.

Poor Lighting Adds to Safety Issues in Public Transport

Though some of the routes boast of having back-to-back buses, there are other routes that are reported to experience the frequency of approximately 20 to 30 minutes. The main reason for this is due to the existence of bus routes being modified based on demand by the commuters, interference from political figures and the knowledge of officials from DTC. The allocation of buses, however, does not rely on any scientific study.

In another study that was conducted it revealed that the changes experienced in bus routes that are initiated by DTC based on DIMTS route rationalization, where the study only covered 25 routes in the pilot phase. According to the experts, they demonstrated that reliability is a primary issue here. Delhi compared to other cities such as Bogota and Geneva in Europe, where passengers have exact knowledge of when the next bus arrives, the bus service in Delhi is totally unpredictable. With the exception of the BRT corridor, more than 5000-odd bus stops lack the operational passenger information in Delhi. Though the DTC had shown efforts by having the buses installed the PIS display boards, the service never saw the light in Delhi.

ISO 9000 is a group of global standards with regards to management of quality and assurance enhanced to help companies archive the components of quality systems that are to be implemented to ensure continuity of an efficient quality system. They are not tied to a particular industry and can be applied to any enterprise irrespective of the size.

ISO 9000 assist companies in meeting the needs of customers while meeting their regulatory requirements thus attaining constant improvement. It should be viewed as the first step, that is the primary level of quality system and not a complete assurance of quality.

Several sensitization programmes that have been established to cater for women, aim at ensuring that bus, rickshaws and cab drivers are more sensitive towards women as part of the passengers that require more attention and sensitivity. An NGO such as Manas Foundation that has been working with drivers in ensuring that the cities are safe for women has been facilitating awareness for drivers regularly.’Mera imaan,mahilaon ka sammam’ has become the popular slogan that is displayed on cabs plying in the city and also among the auto rickshaws.

The AAP government gave assurances of its frantic efforts of deploying marshals in buses so as to keep the cases of sexual harassment manageable, however, the development has continued at a snail’s pace. Currently, only 2700 marshals have been deployed in the buses out of which 1000 are home security details and 1700 are volunteers of civil defence which is startling as the required figure is 8300.The lack of enough marshals for the entire network has led to the marshals being deployed on a rotational basis. Most marshals are deployed in the evening and in the odd hours. In one of the tender that was floated entailed a deal that could see more than 400 security details for the 200 buses has led to a tepid response.

Though there has been an increase in the number of buses and ridership, the expectations of commuters have been failed on many occasions. The services of the bus continue to be erratic and breakdowns are reported frequently. However, the experts are of the belief that buses play a vital role in mobility in both big and small cities and thus a well-managed and organized bus systems will deliver public transport efficiently at affordable rates. In another interview with the head of transport department at the school of planning and architecture, Mr.Sarkar expressed his concerns that there is need to have an improved public transport with proper routing and scheduling of buses aimed at making the public transport reliable.

The GPS devices that were installed in buses have either been damaged or were intentionally removed by drivers or the companies that are tasked with the responsibility of maintaining such buses. It is the availability and existence of a system that facilitates the tracking of the movement by the bus and this makes it possible to predict the time that is taken in reaching a particular destination. The para-transit in Delhi also requires overhaul as there are close to 80000 auto-rickshaws and more than 20,000 taxis that have been registered in Delhi. However, overcharging and refusal to go are the primary problems that commuters encounter in Delhi. The commuters complain of the lack of proper stands for the autorickshaws and unlike in cities such as Mumbai and Kolkata, it is illegal to flag down a taxi in Delhi. Experts express their worries and demonstrate that there is a need for regulating autorickshaws in Delhi and the number of such autorickshaws should be increased. Tough the Supreme court has put a cap on the number of autos as only one lakh is required, such a law should be amended. The frantic efforts by the department of transport to have GPS devise mandatory in regulating the autorickshaws have seen resistance by the unions.

It is crucial to have a variety of services offered by the buses. Given the chance, people reveal the divergent transport facilities they would want in place. However, authorities in many scenarios offer what may be termed as the basic standard of services by the buses. Currently, it is getting hard to gain acceptance of a good market with just one type of product. Operators of the bus transport that operate in Indian cities such as Delhi believe that a majority of the passengers use the same kind of commuting trips on a daily basis thus promoting a package that assumes this pattern. It may be concluded that the current users of public means have a fixed pattern of use and many passengers that have abandoned the bus transport services had different mobility demands that they felt indebted to as satisfied poorly either by the services offered or by the fares charged. Thus, it is necessary to segment the services offered by the bus transport to deliver varying products for different passengers and even to the identical individual on varying scenarios.

According to a report that was generated by a consultancy firm, Brisbane has been ranked as having the best public transport infrastructure in Australia. The report suggested that Brisbane ranked top due to a number of improvements in its work and it has been noted that Brisbane could take a lead and place focus on the use of bicycles as demonstrated in cities such as Amsterdam. Brisbane is expected to take the lead in the region with regards to sustainable and smart investments through delivering infrastructure in the public transport. On the other hand, it is evident that Brisbane could follow the stance of Amsterdam and adopt the concept of a smart city by emphasizing and improving the bicycle infrastructure. It is reported that Amsterdam has more bicycles than people and only 58% of Amsterdam residents cycle to their destinations on a day-to-day basis.

Brisbane takes the crown as being green and sustainable and this is the sole reason why public transport in Brisbane is one of the best means to get around Brisbane. The introduction of TransLink card has made it possible to travel seamlessly on all buses that belong to TransLink, ferry and even access rail services in Queensland. The card has been the perfect travel partner. The go card is available in many retail outlets and QR stations. Also, the go card and can be obtained through online and over the phone and one has to top up the balance just like a prepaid mobile phone depending on the needs of the passenger.

Brisbane offers free buses that tour the inner city. Some of the buses that offer free transport are the City Loop and the Spring Hill Loop buses which circle the city in a ten minutes interval and make stops in destinations located in the CBD whereas the Spring Hill plies between 7.00 in the morning to 6.00 in the evening. On the other hand, glide between Brisbane’s core regions precincts on the City Hopper ferry service that is free of charge and travels from North Quay to Sydney.

The buses explore and tour neighborhoods surrounding Brisbane through a bus service that is comprehensive that operated throughout the city and links both the inner and outer suburbs to the CBD, primary shopping centers, dining and entertainment precincts, ferry terminals and railway stops, the special NightLink buses offer services to late-night passengers such as operating after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The City Loop and Spring Hill on the other hand ferry passengers for free around the inner city. The TransLink has a planned schedule for a passenger to plan their journey well ahead of time.

The speedy network of electric trains in Brisbane ensures wide coverage of Brisbane region and also facilitates immediate access to the city, outer suburbs and quirky neighbourhood territories. There is also one fundamental Airtrain service that is incorporated in the rail suburban network of Brisbane and has regular trains that operate from Brisbane airport to the city. As such it is possible for passengers to travel on a single ticket from any destination that is located in Queensland’s South East region.

Biking around Brisbane provides a brilliant outdoor climate as people bike around Brisbane. The city has bicycle paths that are extensive that transcends across the city and the technology of power pedal provides a healthy and cheap way of cycling around Brisbane. The City council of Brisbane provides hiring services in major destinations in the inner city making it easy to explore the city. Also, the city has made easy accessibility of courtesy helmets that are readily available in many bike stations.

It is important and crucial to support not only local economies in a manner that limits the importance for travelling long distance but also promote the concept of independent fused townships which could see the need for travelling short distances in a city such as Delhi reduce significantly (Singh, 2012). The upgrading of local economies should be accompanied by the creation of settlement schemes that are compact through the provision of market centres and recreational facilities and work opportunities that are proximate to where people reside such that the travelling distance is reduced. In summary, towns of short distances should be encouraged. There are numerous advantages that accrue from the concept of compact township over urban sprawl and this entails few cars and two-wheeler reliance thus curbing emissions, cutting consumption of energy, improved services in the public transport and better quality of life among other issues.

The mobility of passengers in Indian cities such as Delhi depends on the roads. Though rail-based transport is available in Delhi, it hardly plays the important role of meeting transport demand in a million-infested city of Delhi. The time is ripe to plan for a rail-based mass system of transport in cities that have more than 2 million people. However, evaluating the financial stability of various government departments that is the central and regional governments and the investment prerequisites to establish and upgrade public transport with regards to the rail system, it is clear that the bus transport will play a primary part in delivering services to passengers in a city such as Delhi. Thus, the plans on Delhi urban transport should lay focus on bus transport system.

Regulations by the state and control have aggravated the poor running and financial performance of modes of transport that are publicly owned which are the primary provider of bus services in Delhi (Singh, 2012). The rising cost of operations has made the transport system experience financial pressure to have fares raised, however, political figures are also under pressure to keep the prices at prevailing rates. Unless the transport system receives government funding, then some of the less profitable or loss-making ventures will have to be scraped off by the transport agencies (Mani, et al., 2014). Under a democratic system of governance, leaders are bound to submit to pressure from the people who feel that their services are under threat and thus insist on encouraging operations that are money-losing. As such it becomes hard to raise substantial revenue to the costs associated with operations. Also, they are obliged to provide travel facilities that are concessional to varying groups such as students and journalists despite the lump sum they pay in form of various taxes. The gross tax burden from vehicles in the public sector is estimated to be 2.6 times higher per vehicle compared to that of a private vehicle. It is increasingly getting hard for urban transport enterprises that make continuous losses to manage and augment their large fleets and this translated to poor performance in operations and deterioration in quality service delivery.

It has also been observed that with only a few exceptions, urban transport that is publicly owned in India runs at higher unit costs compared to transport facilities that are regulated by the private segment. The participation of private sector in providing bus transport services has been successful in places such as Indore and Surat. Indore, for instance, lacked a system of public transport until 2006 and the city now has more than 100 buses that are operated by a special purpose vehicle(SPV), the Indore City Transport Service Ltd (ICTSL). ICTSL was established towards the end of 2005 by the Municipal Corporation of Indore in association with the Indore Development Authority to operate and oversee the system of public transport through the Public Private Partnership(PPP). It operated buses on more than 20 identified routes with 300 bus stops that are based on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT)system. The marketing of services by buses is conducted by a vendor who issues not less than 15000 passes on a monthly basis at set rates guaranteeing a monthly income of Rs.4 million for the ICTSL (Singh, 2012).

There is need to channel a great deal of effort to improve the efficiency associated with productivity of operators in the bus transport. It has been pointed out that competitive pressure is vital to facilitate that grave endeavor that is made towards achieving productive efficiency. This kind of competitive pressure may be sourced through competition for the transport sector or through comparison that is systematic from other similar operators. The effectiveness of direct competition for the market may be seen where there are periodic tenders to deliver the service in either a partly or fully protected market and this is basically effective in towns that lack operations of bus transport. In such a scenario, the private sector is motivated to deliver the service where a negative effect translates to a loss of market share by the incumbent operator. This mounts competitive pressure on the operator thus improving efficiency with regards to productivity. On the other hand, benchmarking, that is, systematic comparison with other identical operators can be used objectively to boost productive efficiency of public modes of transport facilities where a negative outcome will translate to job loss by managers and other employees. As such this improves efficiency of operations of bus transport in Delhi as it is served by transport facilities that are publicly owned.

The pricing adopted for transport facilities is another primary concern and should be addressed appropriately. It is through the implementation of a relevant pricing policy that can encourage the use of public means and limit the use of automobiles that are privately-owned. So far in a country such as India, the operational costs of running a private vehicle is less compared to the marginal social costs and this has been linked to encouraging people to use the private vehicles.

Modal share of Delhi as of 2014 (Source: Report of High Powered Committee on How to Decongest Delhi. 2014)

Over the past few decades, government policies have been very accommodative in supporting the automobile sector. Ownership of cars and motorcycles is deemed desirable and thus encouraged. Accompanied by this notion is the general belief that support and promotion of car and two-wheeler manufacturing segment are healthy for the prosperity of the economy. It is due to such reasons that the state ends up implementing some policies that not only lower the cost of owning a vehicle through registration that is one-time based but also encourages the utilization of the same vehicle. Though having no doubts of state promoting the automobile sector for the general prosperity with regards to having a healthy economy, the state should seek methods that limit the usage of cars and two-wheeled automobiles. Private vehicles in this context should incur gross external costs. The state should also employ tools that are market-oriented such as yearly registration fee, fuel tax and road tax to raise the marginal cost associated with the use of a private automobile to a level where it is the same to the marginal social costs. Also, the government should encourage the use of public transport by terminating motor vehicle tax that is paid annually and also passenger tax on public transport automobiles.

Source: Singh (2008).

Note: PCU = Passenger Car Unit where 1 car = 1 PCU, 1 bus = 2.5 PCU, 1 scooter = 0.75 PCU, etc.

It is necessary to have a pricing strategy that is optimal for modes of transport that involve the general public. The pricing of transport services should not only be seen as a cost gain instrument but also for propelling the attitude of consumers (Singh, 2012). Though there is no “right price” but rather it is crucial to have pricing strategies that are optimal. An optimal price aimed at achieving maximization of profits may be different from the one necessary to achieve maximum welfare or to facilitate highest traffic income. According to economists, they prefer adoption of prices with regards to marginal costs specifically in the case of public corporations (Vaidyanathan, et al., 2017). The driving motive behind the logic in favour of marginal cost pricing for publicly-owned institutions is the belief that such enterprises are formed with aim of maximizing welfare as opposed to profit-making motive. The use pricing based on the concept of marginal costing may result in financial loss under certain instances. A perfect example is the decreasing cost of a frim where there are high start-up costs with regards to capital, thus setting prices equal to marginal costs automatically sets in economic deficits. Such deficits may be not an indicator of mismanagement. With most undertakings in India, they seem to embrace the increasing returns to scale strategy and implementing pricing based on marginal costing results in a financial crisis. As such public transport in Delhi can charge varying prices based on the different quality services delivered. With the assumption that the shift of passengers between different services due to quality issues is negligible, the existence of a variety of services translates to gross consumer surplus exceeding that produced if only a sole price and service commodity were accessible. As such the operator gains from such a pricing mechanism as costs of attending each customer segment are constant.

Also envisaging varying pricing mechanism during peak and off-peak period, requires target pricing mechanism. The challenge associated with the peak is peculiar with regards to the transport industry (Pojan & Stead, 2015). The challenge stems from systematic demand variations that arise over a short duration. The matter gets aggravated further due to the nature of transport as it cannot be stored to accommodate systematic demand variations with an even production. Reconciliation in this context can only be achieved through pricing. The justification for using varying pricing for peak and off-peak travellers originates from the logic that small increases in cost during peak exceeds that exhibited during off-peak (Singh, 2012). When peak and off-peak travellers are charged fares that are equated to marginal costs not only ensures that public welfare is maximized but also has the possibility of augmenting traffic income.

Table 5: Existing modal split in Indian cities (as a %age of total trips)

Source: Singh (2005)

Table 6: Desirable modal split for Indian cities (as a %age of total trips)

Source: Singh (2005)

However, following adoption of such a pricing mechanism, if traffic income is not substantial to cover costs incurred, then the transport agencies can adopt the alternative optimal pricing where price charged with regards to a particular niche equals the summation of marginal cost and markup. The markup over marginal cost could be translated as being an inverse to the price elasticity of demand. For instance, peak travellers are subject to be charged higher prices since their demand is inelastic compared to off-peak travellers.

Conclusion

The demand for urban transport most prime cities in India such as Delhi continues to increase due to population pressure arising from rural-urban migration and also due to natural cause. Availability and access to transport with regards to motor vehicle, increase in disposable income and increase in both economic and industrial operations have facilitated population pressure. Unfortunately, public transport mechanisms in Delhi have failed to match with increase in public transport demand. Qualitatively, it is apparent that delivery of services with regards to public transport are overcrowded during peak sessions and entail waiting for long hours. Thus, there is a huge transfer towards private modes of transport, particularly cars and two-wheelers and the proliferation of other modes of transport such as auto-rickshaws and taxis are imminent.

With the increased use of private vehicles, Delhi has revolutionized the structure of modal split. Motorization is directly associated with increased mobility of high-income individuals in the urban population. However, the adverse effects generated by it in the form of air pollution, congestion and accidents are too many. Though such effects are inherent to vehicles, most of the adverse effects in cities such as Delhi have to do with ineffective public policy.

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