The Tariff Calculation Methodology for Urban Bus Transportation, Taking into Account the Passenger Service Quality and Rolling Stock Comfort

Abstract

The urgency of the problem of the methodology scientific substantiation for calculating the tariff for urban bus transportation, taking into account the passenger service quality and rolling stock comfort, is due to the fact that modern market conditions dictate new approaches to the tariff policy and tariff formation for passenger road transport services. In conditions of tough competition, the main factor in the competitiveness of enterprises is not only the tariff for
transportation, but also the quality of passenger service, as well as the comfort of the buses that carry out transportation. All other things being equal and the same tariffs, passengers will choose to travel the route where the comfort of buses and the quality of passenger service is higher.
The analysis of existing methods for calculating tariffs for urban bus transportation has shown that the most widely used methods for determining tariffs are based on accounting for planned costs and planned profits necessary for the development of the carrier. The advantage of these tariff calculation methods is the simplicity of tariff calculation, which is predetermined by the availability of the necessary reference and regulatory documentation and data on the enterprises’ own costs. In addition, the advantage of the methods is to take into account the volume of passenger traffic when calculating the tariff, which is determined based on a survey of passenger traffic on routes for the current time period. The disadvantages of these methods are the possibility of including in the tariff many unjustified costs of the carrier, which will be paid by passengers; the absence of a method for determining the planned annual profit from the provision of services; the absence of consideration in the tariff of indicators of the passenger service quality and the comfort of the buses used on the routes.
The analysis of existing methods for calculating tariffs for urban bus transportation, identifying their
advantages and disadvantages, allowed us to propose a tariff calculation methodology for urban bus transportation, taking into account the passenger service quality and rolling stock comfort. It is proposed to establish the profitability of transportation depending on the comfort class of buses and the level of the passenger service quality, which is based on the standards of this quality (the level and integral coefficient of passenger transportation quality).
The use of the proposed methodology will allow enterprises engaged in urban bus transportation to calculate economically reasonable tarifffs for passenger transportation, taking into account the passenger service quality and the comfort class of buses, which will allow them to increase their competitiveness, market share, to obtain positive
financial results and economic stability. The proposed methodology can be used to calculate tariffs for passenger
transportation in other modes of communication or for other types of passenger transport, taking into account the norm specifics of the material and energy resources expenditure, rates, taxes and tariffs in their industry.