ICT for hybrid systems - the role of information in realising more equitable access to mobility in emerging cities

摘要

Emerging cities are beginning to implement formal, scheduled systems to deliver more equitable mobility networks. Several of those cities that have already rolled out scheduled systems have even attempted to integrate these with existing unscheduled, paratransit systems, acknowledging the need for both system types, with Cape Town in many ways leading this integration process (Ferro et al 2013). Although Cape Town's hybrid system may be designed to ensure wide service coverage (CoCT 2014a), information may play a role as a barrier to passengers' ability to understand how best to access and combine travel alternatives to make a journey that best suits their travel needs in terms of cost, travel time, etc. Lyons et al (2001) found that limited access to information is as serious a barrier to public transport use as are barriers to physical access. Given the complexity of Cape Town's hundreds of routes and the gaps in existing and/or easy-to-use publicly accessible information on these services, the information that public transport users can draw on readily is limited, thus potentially limiting users' knowledge of the full network's journey options (Simon 1982; Chorus et al 2007).