A rational decision-making process with stakeholder engagement for the design of local public transport services: A case study in the south of Italy

The useful/sustainable design of public transport services is a crucial issue that may affect both the economy of territories and the social inclusion of their inhabitants. Indeed, the transport accessibility of residences, firms and commercial activities is one of the main drivers that influence the localisation choices and local public transport services assume a central role within this point of view. Furthermore, the recent economic crisis that has struck Europe has even more limited the funds available for public services, including the transport sector. For example, in some Italian regions, a significant funds reduction was observed producing a consequent reduction in public services offered. In this critical context, the rational design of public transport services become a fundamental activity strictly correlated with the available funds. In the literature, there are numerous studies that focused on the design of mass-transit systems, usually considering only technical aspects of the problem (e.g. user costs and benefits, operator costs). Only a few studies also considered social impacts (e.g. externalities). Starting from these considerations, the paper proposes an innovative methodology for designing the local public transport services through a rational decision-making process with stakeholder engagement. The proposed methodology combines both technical aspects of the problem and social and political issues, also considering the equity in the fund allocation, aiming at obtaining a design solution accepted from the whole community. The proposed methodology consists in different interconnected activities with some loops (retroactions): • analysis of the legislative and planning framework; • identification of mobility needs; • analysis of current transport supply and related supply model; • criteria definition for choosing the best public transport services to implement; • analysis of the current scenario and the identification of its main critical issues; • project (design) scenario identification; • public engagement (stakeholder engagement) on the design activities; • formal approval of the design scenario and its application. However, to better underline the applicability, the strengths and the weaknesses of the proposed methodology, it was applied to a real case study consisting in the design of the local public transport plan of the Province of Foggia, in the south of Italy. The application results show how the design solution identified was participated and supported by planners, politicians and stakeholders involved.