Application of Sustainability Indicators to Local Public Transport Planning for Small and Medium Cities

Abstract

While sustainability is a goal for many cities, there is no consensus on what it means and how to apply it to public transport. This paper examines sustainability and its application to the Philippines' local public transport route plan (LPTRP) for small and medium cities. Text mining and topic modeling explored categories representing sustainable transport indicators from academic literature. Results showed transport planning and walkability indicators are the most relevant topics. Indicators are evaluated with data availability and applicability in the Philippines. Transportation experts confirmed the application of sustainability indicators in the LPTRP. These are 1) accessibility and satisfaction of the transport system. 2) system accessibility to other locations. 3) investments in transport and infrastructure. And 4) the degree to which transport planning is comprehensive. Lastly, this paper suggests ways to apply the selected indicators in preparing sustainable public transport plans for small and medium cities.