| Summary: | Travel is an essential part of everyone’s life today. Sustainable travel options that optimize utilization of our depleting resources are a key towards sustainability of our Earth. Public transportation is one of the major thrust areas through which daily commute can be made economical, efficient and environment-friendly. Bus transit is the most popular means of public transportation today in most cities of the world. Several measures have been taken to improve the state of bus transit in the past with respect to service design, route design, affordable fare structure, improved level of service etc. such that more commuters are attracted to choose buses over the private car. However, financial unsustainability has been one of the major hurdles for a smooth bus operation in most of these cities. There is a need to understand how different transit markets are affected by their financial operating regimes and propose more sustainable measures. This study investigates the different operating regimes in bus transit viz. nationalized, privatized, contracting regime etc. that have been implemented in different cities w.r.t. different operational parameters of the operators and the regulator while taking into account the commuters’ choice behavior. An overview on the transitions in operating regimes in different transit markets using statistical and financial data with users’ experiences is provided. Case studies demonstrate the suitability of different operating regimes and derive inferences for a sustainable financial planning of bus transit.
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