Modeling Generalized Cost of Travel and Its Application for Improvement of Taxies in Kolkata

Abstract

Taxi is an important urban transportation mode, and several initiatives have been taken in recent times for improving the taxi operation in Indian cities. A major challenge in the process of improving taxies is the older vehicles which are on the road, especially in megacities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, and Delhi. With growing awareness on the environment and increasing need for improving the taxi system, policy makers and practitioners are now considering the possibility of replacing age-old vehicles with new ones. The replacement of old taxies has become a major hurdle mainly because of socioeconomic reasons and the country is in need of a rational approach for solving the same. Any improvement in taxi (including replacement of an old vehicle with a new one) brings benefit to trip makers and the perceived benefits are pertinent to improve the planning of taxies. Also, practically no information is available in the literature on the valuation of taxi attributes by urban trip makers in India. In the present work, the trip makers’ willingness to pay with respect to taxi attributes is studied taking a case study in Kolkata and the knowledge gained is applied for evaluating various alternatives and identifying a viable option for replacing old taxies with new ones.