Comprehensive Summary of Research

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CHAPTER 7

7. CONCLUSION

7.1. Comprehensive Summary of Research

The aim of this research was to investigate the role of paratransit in public transport and accessibility with a particular view of user’s perspective in Ankara transportation network, and to investigate the opportunities for integrating paratransit systems into the rest of public transport modes. These evaluations provided valuable insights on the characteristics of paratransit that are valued positively by transit users and with the help of this information, it has been possible to look for possible strategies, which would increase the efficiency of public transport against the private cars.

In a detailed explanation of the whole study, firstly, in the introduction of the research, four main titles namely context, problem definition, aim of research and the structure of the thesis have been formulated. In the second and third chapters of the research, literature review has been presented. In literature review chapters, it has been emphasized that, private car usage should be balanced with efficient public transport options and that re-structuring of a variety of public transport options is necessary. Transport system integration has been referred as one of the best options for cities with a variety, and sometimes a fragmentation of, public transport opportunities namely metro, bus, minibus, ferry, commuter rail etc. The variety of examples on transport system integration showed that, rather than cancellation of some privately operated public transport, to create a diverse and direct travel opportunity with a single ticket with the inclusion of all possible public transport options is the key to increase the competitiveness of public transport against the private car usage. Detailed definition, explanation and analysis of paratransit services showed that the presence of paratransit services in cities are the natural results of the

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lack of transportation services in meeting the mobility demand. Even though it is difficult to make research on paratransit due to its informal and flexible organizational characteristics, an analysis of paratransit systems in detail is a necessity in order to be able to make sound proposals on the complete integration of all public transport services. Detailed literature research demonstrated that, the dominance of paratransit modes in networks, which they exist, is not a coincidence.

To make it more clear, paratransit systems’ positive characteristics namely flexibility-adaptability, convenience, affordability, convenience and comfort makes their operations as effective substitutes to conventional modes like bus or metro.

However, on the other hand, the challenging characteristics showed that it is not logical for city authorities to allow existing paratransit operations as they are in the future for if an effective and attractive public transport service is to be created. It is seen that, especially two of the negative characteristics, ownership pattern and issues of integration, make paratransit modes difficult to integrate into the existing network.

As paratransit operators are horizontally organized in many different geographies in the world and their operational characteristics, which often make them a better alternative than conventional modes in populated, congested as well as sprawling cities, are difficult to re-formulate without diminishing their appeal for the users, the integration of these modes are necessary on the one hand but challenging on the other hand. Actually, the real problem is that these consolidated groups are very difficult to negotiate with because it is not possible to compensate a loss on one line with the surplus gathered from another line. That is why, only if their expectations are met by the local authorities, it would be possible to create an effective policy package. However, it should also be indicated that, traffic safety issues, unreliability of the operations and congestion effect of low capacity paratransit vehicles are the other three negative characteristics of paratransit vehicles, necessitating the integration –or maybe the removal for some cases- of paratransit systems in terms of sustainability measures. At the end of the literature review part, the findings demonstrated that, the solution of paratransit issue cannot be addressed successfully without involving the three stakeholders, namely public transport users, operators and city authorities that run public transport services. As each locality has its own

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characteristics, the study then focused on Turkey and Ankara cases for a detailed analysis of the network and the stakeholders.

In the fourth chapter, Turkish paratransit mode “dolmuş” has been analyzed in detail and in a historical context. Previous findings about paratransit have been reviewed with the dolmuş reality in Turkey. Early period, rising period and recent period of dolmuş have been analyzed in detail and five breaking points for the consolidation of dolmuş operations in transportation operations have been deducted. These findings showed that, the dominance of dolmuş in Turkish urban traffic is not a coincidence and dolmuş also encompasses the characteristic common to most paratransit systems in the world, which make their services appealing to certain users. Following the general overview on dolmuş operators, the case study Ankara’s transportation history has been presented. Historical representation was vital for the evaluation of dolmuş operations, because theoretical characteristics, which have been explained in detail in the chapter on paratransit, could be observed from the historical context easily.

Furthermore, evaluating different periods enabled to see the different approaches of city authorities in different periods and made it possible to see the modal split change in Ankara from the 1930s to 2015. Other interesting findings of the transportation history section were the arguments it provided, which actually support the necessity of transport system integration. Synthesis modal split table, from the 1930s to present, at the end of the study showed the gradual increase in private cars and the dramatically decreasing efficiency of publicly operated public transport options in terms of modal share. At the end of the fourth chapter, the future of dolmuş operations have been discussed in the light of the literature review and historical development of Ankara transportation network. As stated by Kılınçaslan (2012, 36) when dolmuş vehicles started operating in 1929, it would not be possible to foresee that they would reach 20% share in modal split in the future (and this share is even higher for the Ankara case). Because of this unexpected continuity of dolmuş operations it is necessary to develop strategies and proposals for dealing with them.

However, rather than terminating these services altogether, Dimitriou (1990) defends that innovative solutions for the future of paratransit operations are possible, nevertheless, the real progress it to be made by addressing the local needs. For the

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systematic analysis of dolmuş in the current situation, particularly in relation to other modes and with reference to users’ perceptions, a survey study has been carried out as presented in the fifth chapter of the research.

In the fifth chapter, specifically to examine dolmuş operations a detailed transportation network analysis have been made based on a survey named “METU Campus and Transportation Survey” conducted in Middle East Technical University (METU). As the survey covered many different dimensions of transportation preferences of METU students, questions regarding dolmuş were only a section of this comprehensive survey. Descriptive analyses within this chapter provided important findings about the mode choices of the students coming from different neighborhoods in Ankara. According to the survey results, dolmuş was the firstly preferred mode of the students in their commuting travels with 41.6% share after leaving their homes. In addition, respondents’ answers about metro usage showed that, even though almost all of the students used metro at least once in their lifetime, their overall satisfaction was not very high. Especially regarding the safety and price measures most of them are not satisfied from the metro operations. That was not surprising because these answers were supporting the 7.1% share of the metro usage.

As a result of users’ dissatisfaction, in the next section possible improvement strategies, which can be implemented by the public authority have been enquired.

The most important findings of that possible transportation improvements section was that the proposal for “Cheaper/Free Transfer Opportunity from Dolmuş to Metro” received the highest share. Furthermore, the answers of the participants showed that to increase of the efficiency of metro operations was possible with the integration of metro with other options.

These findings were quite important for the contemporary comparison of paratransit modes and conventional modes because, that showed even in a highly accessible location like METU Campus, students’ first preference was dolmuş and policies related with dolmuş operations were highly demanded. Findings also demonstrated that, there is a need for transport system integration demanded by the users.

Especially, the integration of, and reduced/transfer fares between metro and dolmuş were highly demanded by the students. Besides, from the findings showed that due to