Assessing Policy Influence on Demand-Responsive Transit Systems: A Framework for DRTS Implementation

Budget constraints related to the development of transportation infrastructure are one of the reasons for the underdevelopment of public transportation services in rural towns of Taiwan. Thus, it is a very difficult question for local governments to provide public transportation services with a high service level in rural areas. In order to improve public transportation services in rural towns, the directorate general of highways of the ministry of transportation and communications has promoted the DRTS service since 2016 and has been promoting DRTS services for towns that lack of public services in Taiwan. This study chose Pingtung County’s DRTS route as the research target and used regression analysis to find out the key performance factors in the implementation of the DRTS service. The study found that the establishment a DRTS information platform, the route for purpose of school, the number of people under 18 years old, the number of people over 65 years old, the type of buses used, and the average mileage were the factors that influenced the departure frequency of the DRTS service. The research methodology, findings, and management implications of this study can provide a reference and easy-to-analyze for towns to promote and analyze the effectiveness of the routes and to improve the DRTS routes.