Pathways to integrating paratransit and formal public transport: Case studies from Tshwane, South Africa

Abstract

At its core public transport integration is about the collaboration of actors. Collaboration is elusive and difficult to achieve, especially in developing countries where insufficient regulation and dispersed, quasi-formal public transport operations are common. Asymmetries in information and objectives between paratransit and formal sector actors create barriers and may prevent synergies from emerging. A simplified framework for assessing the collaboration of actors during the implementation of integrated public transport projects is proposed. The position of the framework is that it is critical to identify actors’ objectives and barriers to collaboration, and then to action decisions to remove these barriers and achieve objectives at every step of the STO (Strategic Tactical Operational) decision-making process to maintain structural and horizontal consistency. The framework is tested ex-post on two public transport integration projects in Tshwane, South Africa: the Gautrain regional rapid rail and A Re Yeng Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), both of which are supported by paratransit feeders. The case study shows how collaboration is achieved when all the key actors' objectives and barriers are understood, planned for and implemented across the STO levels and how failure to do so can lead to failed integration outcomes. The framework may be useful to authorities pursuing collaboration with paratransit for the purposes of implementing integrated public transport in the Global South.