[sustran] Re: Technology for Taxi dispatch

[Eric Bruun]

I work with Computer Aided Dispatching (CAD) technology in the US of A. Even
here, paratransit vehicles often have trouble making appointments on time
due to unforeseen traffic. I imagine that, if Mumbai is as congested as it
sounds, it would be extremely hard to efficiently schedule single-ride
taxis. This is even more so for shared-ride taxis.

Furthermore, to justify the investment in CAD, there must be multiple users.
Thus, small owners would have to belong to a cooperative and trust that
there is no favoratism being shown to other owners.

Eric

----- Original Message -----
From: <eric.britton at ecoplan.org>
To: <WorldTransport at yahoogroups.com>
Cc: <WorldTransport-Focus at yahoogroups.com>; <Sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 1:51 AM
Subject: [WorldTransport-Focus] Taxi operations in Mumbai (and elsewhere)


> Friday, June 11, 2004, Paris, France, Europe
>
> As our long time colleagues Brendan Finn and Bina Balakrishnan point out
in the pair of attached emails to the Sustran group, a most interesting
dialogue on taxi operations and innovation is opening up there which has
application in most parts of the world.  While the immediate focus of the
discussions is the present situation in Mumbai, the issues are ones that
face just about all of us.
>
> Fortunately if you want to catch up on these exchanges, all you have to do
is go to the New Mobility Agenda at http://newmobility.org and click the
Discussion Groups, and there at the very top the email library of The
Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific is right at the
top of the pile.
>
> Recommended.
>
> Eric Britton
>
>
> ======================
>
> -----Original Message-----
>  Behalf Of Brendan Finn
> Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 10:55 AM
> To: Bina C. Balakrishnan; Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport
> Subject: [sustran] Re: Taxi operations in Mumbai
>
> Dear Bina,
>
> This has become an interesting strand, because we can now see that there
are many actions being considered in parallel. Single dimension solutions
are rarely successful in solving complex problems, so the news from Mumbai
is quite encouraging.
>
> Two small suggestions about the content of your mail :
>
> a) Your suggested approach of using parking as a travel demand management
tool is very appropriate, provided there is the will to enforce it. This was
used quite effectively in Dublin during the 1980's when there was no will to
use any other measures. Of course, it is low-cost, low-investment and very
simple, although it attracts direct opposition from car owners. I think the
critical success factor is to get traders to accept that no parking and
controlled deliveries is much better for their business (individually and
for the whole street). The parking aproach has now become more sophisticated
since there are better trafiic control measures with which to integrate. If
you wish, I can give you a broad overview from memory, and recommend who to
talk to in the city for the facts.
>
> b) For the 'dial-a-cab' facility, there are perhaps three options to
consider. The first is for the individual booking, so perhaps systems like
Singapore where the cab companies provide a very good booking facility and
usually you get the cab to your door in 2-5 minutes. The second is shared
taxi, so here the dispatch centre acts as a broker among people who want
taxi service, but are willing to share cost and comfort. The third is demand
responsive minibuses, where the cost should be much lower than taxi, and the
service much better than regular bus. A lot of work has been done in Europe
on these options in developing both the operating scenarios and the booking
and dispatch technologies, although the reailty is that the most suitable
passenger markets are in Asia. Again, if you are interested, I can give you
some overviews and put you in touch with information sources. Being
realistic, these type of services are not for the poor (at least in our
current generation). However, there is a significant market that has both
affordability and desire for medium-quality transportation. They can support
such services, and if they don't have something of acceptable quality, then
they will acquire personal motorised transport even if it is hard on them
financially. It would be intersting to know what is the uptake of mobile
phones in Mumbai, since SMS can be a very effective and cheap tool for
making bookings and receiving confirmations - once the public has the
communication device, the main financial barrier is removed.
>
> I will now look at your website to learn more about Bombay First.
>
> With best wishes,
>
>
> Brendan Finn.
_______________________________________________________________________
> Contact details are : e-mail : etts at indigo.ie   tel : +353.87.2530286
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bina C. Balakrishnan" <binac at rediffmail.com>
> To: "Puttanna S.Honaganahalli" <psh at isec.ac.in>
> Cc: "Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport"
<sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
> Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 8:34 AM
> Subject: [sustran] Re: Taxi operations in Mumbai
>
>
> Dear Mr Mehta, Puttanna,
>
> Thank you very much for your inputs.
> At the outset, I have to tell you that we (Bombay First) are primarily
initiators of change. We do not go into the finer details of design and
implementation of the project, but identify areas for possible improvement,
study the broad aspects of the same, and make recommendations to the
concerned authorities / agencies for detailed study or implementation. Do
visit our web-site at
>
> http://www.bombayfirst.org
>
> To respond to your comments, we have already considered most of them in
the study framework.
>
> Yes, one of our objectives is to examine the feasibility of shifting some
work trips by private cars to taxi trips, but the economics have to be in
favour of this(!!)
>
> Augmenting public transport has always been a priority, and the BEST are
going about it in a very systematic way. However, there is also a project
that has been lying with the Municipal Corporation for almost 2 years, where
I have recommended the use of parking as a demand management tool in Mumbai.
The idea is to bring all street side parking under the pay and park scheme,
banning it altogether on arterial roads, and raising the parking charges
substantially from the very nominal Rs 5 per hour that it is today. The
restriction on arterial roads is expected to release kerb-side lanes for
exclusive bus lanes, and the higher charges and limited availability of
parking will hopefully induce people to car pool and /or use public
transport. However, for various reasons, the project is still lying with the
MCGB.
>
>  Yes, we have included the dial- a- cab facility in this study, and the
new models of cabs can be designed to have a more prominent display of the
vehicle for hire flag. As for raising fares - that is the moot point- we
need to work out some other way of keeping the vehicles in better shape-
hence the consideration of the operator system. But as Brendan has said,
since we are looking to replace old vehicles with new in a low wage, low
tariff situation, the finances will not fit easily. Hence, we are looking
into subsidies for the new purchases, or some financial arrangement whereby
the changeover can be made more attractive.
>
> About removing hurdles- I assume you are referring to the restrictions on
autos plying beyond Bandra? Well, I don't think it would be a good idea for
them to come further south. I think they are driven very rashly, and their
high maneuverability make them initiators of accidents, and besides, South
Mumbai is doing very nicely without them!
>
> Restriction on car ownership? I think I'd best leave that to you, Mr.
Mehta!
>
> Best regards,
> Bina
>
>
>
>
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