Not enough commuters using public

transportation

Student :Khatuna Buchashvili

Neptune code :AJ927F

The following paper presents the problem ,its analysis ,possible solutions and outcomes.
Moreover ,researches are included in the paper so that it would show a clear views of
resolving the issue.

The paper was written in order to propose some basic solutions to the not only Georgian
problem , but also worldwide significant matter.

Situation before the problem

The situation before the problem was that there were not so many transportation means
so that the roads were not overcrowded. The roads were less overcrowded ,which led to
less traffic jams ,less car accidents and less air pollution.

Detailed analisys of the problem

The roads in Georgia are not appropriate for long or huge buses ,which interferes with the
traffic speed on the roads and mostly leads to traffic accidents. Also it leads to air
pollution in which case Georgian air in the capital is considered polluted.

Georgia is considered one of the most countries in which people die from air pollution.

1) These are mortality rates, not absolute figures. Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
North Korea, and Bulgaria top the list, but countries like China and India have more total
deaths from air pollution since they have so many more people.
2) The United States certainly has room for improvement, but it has some of the cleanest
air around. One reason the country has lower mortality from pollution than, say, France
or Germany is that we have fewer diesel cars on the road. Diesel engines can be more
fuel efficient than gasoline engines, but they also emit more soot, particulates, and NOx.

3) How did Georgia get to be No. 1 anyway? Neither the IEA nor WHO offers much
detail. But via Twitter, Tim Kovach pointed me to Georgias recent State of the
Environment report for some clues. The country has seen a sharp rise in the number of
old, dirty diesel vehicles on the roads.

In Georgia the public transport system is not sufficiently developed and as a consequence
a significant proportion of the population uses private vehicles as the preferred mode of
transport.
Most of the cars purchased are secondhand
cars imported from aboard and the average age of the fleet in Georgia is 10-15 years.
Diesel engine cars are very popular.
Roadworthiness testing of vehicles is not in operation at the moment in Georgia and as a
result many cars on the roads are in bad mechanical condition. Periodic testing of exhaust
gases has also been suspended. Some low quality fuels available on the Car owners tend
to have the damaged catalytic converters removed and not replaced, resulting in higher
emissions from the vehicle. Traffic management is still problematic in the cities of
Georgia and traffic jams happen quite often. All of these factors lead to high emissions
from motor transport in Georgia.

For detailed analisys see the table below:

Several solution methods

The table showed that Georgia encounters 300 deaths per 100 000 people when our
whole population is less than 4 million people.

From my point of view ,we can propose several solutions for the problem,one of them is
raising public transportation efficiency,for instance in Georgia if we provide Smart Green
Buses and the size of buses should not be too big as far as it affecting traffic. According
to the research made by ADB (Asian Development Blog ) Transport forum 2016 people
gave their votes with the following rates for how to get people to use the public
transportation more :

ADB Transport Forum 2016

How can we get people to use public transport more?

Raise efficiency
48%
Improve connections
40%
Make it safer
9%
Make it cheaper
4%
The most number of people voted for improving connections and raising efficiency of the
public transportation. Less percentage rates received safety and cheap transport means
.As for me improving the connections if you ask me why I use or do not use the public
transport. Morver,for me there is a problem of overcrowded metrolines in the mornings
and that to some places only one bus goes .For a student catching a taxi every time is not
so comfortable. Raising efficiency of the public vehicles also makes a difference for the
commuters. This survey analysis should be helpful while working out variants for
improving the state of current situation with public transport.

The main question is how?

Installing emissions-control technologies on cars and power plants in the developing

world, as well as giving people access to clean fuels for the cooking and heating stoves (a
major source of deadly indoor pollution). Also could be a proposal for the problem.

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a term used for a set of transit service improvements that
include grade-separated right-of-way and other Transit Priority measures, comfortable
stations, high-quality vehicles (high capacity, easy to board, quiet, clean and comfortable
to ride), frequent service, convenient user information, efficient pre-paid fare collection,
and efficient operations.BRT improvements is a great step for making the use of transport
more frequent.

Another kind of solution is to create something like frequent commuter programs that
reward loyal passengers in similar fashion to airline reward programs, it would give
commuters more incentive to use public transportation rather than their cars, easing
congestion on roads. If higher reward points were given for riding public transit during
off-peak hours, as is suggested, the program could also ease congestion on buses and
trains as well.

One of the solutions was introduced in Georgia (Tbilisi)

According to the article and new of the Tbilisi City Hall l from September in Tbilisi we
will have new buses . The agreement was signed with the grant winner company "Man
Truck and Bus AG" .Little by little new buses will be introduced to our city. They will be
adapted for disabled people and will be equipped with gas ,the volume of carbon will be
reduced compared to diesel .This plan is extended for 4 years.

Such kind of buses will firstly be in Georgia, which is also a progress for the country.

I would add to this restricting the number of old cars in Georgia that are polluting the air
and also can lead to car accidents which affect safety on the roads.

Some amendments have been made and new restrictions will be introduced to Georgia
for checking the old cars.
Possible consequences

The consequences of making the public transport cheaper is not as real as it may seem
,because in terms of modern oil and gas prices it may lead to a strike ,like it was in
Georgia ,because it may affect the salaries of the bus (minibus) drivers .

Making it safer also does not sound as affecting consumer behavior ,as far as
nowadays in European countries there are some political and religious issues that we
cannot mostly affect.

In case we raise efficiency of the public transportation it will me more attractive for the
consumers . Imrpoving connection needs for example putting more buses or creating
metro lines for such districts(Vake Saburtalo) in Georgia that are overcrowded in the
mornings and during evenings (after 6-7 p.m. traffic jams),would lead to basically more
public transportation use .

If we create some kind of consumer rewards , it will lead to solving overloaded roads and
if we improve the connection system (between the districts of Georgia ) it may lead to
more usage of the transportation means.

Best solution and Number of people to be involved

The problem can be referred to the global meanings so basically most of the citizens of
the country must be involved.

Mostly the governmental representatives, like Georgian City Hall in case of Georgia,
must work on the solutions and moreover ,engineers should reconstruct the roads in a
way that it can affect the speed of traffic.

The frequent commuter reward program would also be one of the best solutions for the
issue.It will ease the traffic and cause difference . Although, the reconstructions of the
roads must be made .

Following the look, it is clear that by increasing the cost of using the private vehicle is an
effective strategy to encourage people using public transportation. Thus, this will help to
lessen congestion and air pollution to a certain extent.

To sum up ,in the following essay there is not only one best solution for the problem
which is of significant meaning for the development of the country. From my
point of view , there are several solutions and only combining them can really have an
impact for the commuters to use public transportation means. People to be involved in the
process of making the system of the transportation more efficient are not only the
governmental representatives , but also the citizens of the city.

Methods used for analyzing the problem

While trying to resolve the problem ,methods of survey results,brainstorming ideas and
conducting a small research (articles and survey examples were included.) for preparing
the effective ways first the problem was defined. Afterwards ,alternatives were
generated and selected the most significant ones.One of the methods I also tried to use
was concept fan . Working backwards for redefining the purpose of thinking.

Skilful questioning in terms of shooting and fishing questions was performed (I also
asked my friends how do they look at this problem. Another kind of questioning that I
performed while doing the research is asking myself what would I really do .Sometimes
while problem solving crazy ideas may come so I had to exclude the irrelevant options.

The difficulties that I faced during the research was defining the problem that I should
have chosen , because carrying out the solutions and finding alternative ways was quite
easy due to the process of brainstorming ideas and finding already used ways in other
countries or news in Georgia. Defining the real problem nowadays is much more efficient
for the society from my point of view. The subject of the paper was quite popular topic
nowadays ,not only in developing ,but in countries all over the world .

Sources :

http://www.tbilisi.gov.ge/news/2723

https://blogs.adb.org/blog/whats-stopping-you-using-public-transport

http://www.georgianjournal.ge/society/32635-georgia-no-1-among-the-countries-that-
have-deadliest-air-pollution.html

http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm112.htm