The use of different fare values as a demand transfer strategy in urban public transportation systems

Abstract

One of the biggest problems of medium and large size cities today is urban mobility. The solutions necessarily come through collective public transport systems, which require large investments in infrastructure. The collective public transport fleet is determined based on the number of passengers during the peak periods, and has an important role in determining the fare. The differentiation of fare based on the hour of the day, although still very new in Brazil, is a strategy widely used abroad to reduce demand during peak periods. The offer of discounts on fares during periods of lower demand can attract part of the users that usually travel during peak periods. As a result, this article presents a detailed study on the subject, with a viability analysis of the use of different fares based on the hour of the day, on the public transport system of a Brazilian city. The results show that 69% of peak period users would be willing to change their traveling time to save money, and that the percentage of participation will vary depending on the size of the discount offered. Also, there is a minimum discount that would engage this change. The strategy seems viable, with good chances of changing the demand variation profile throughout the day and contributing to a reduction in the fleet and the system’s operating costs.

Keywords:
Peak-load pricing; Demand management; User behavior; Public transport