Regional Tariff Proposal for the Cost Problem in Rail Public Transport During the COVID-19 Health Crisis: Eskişehir Application

Abstract

COVID-19 with settlement on the agenda in Turkey since March 11, 2020; many precautions such as "social distance", "transition to distance education in schools", "curfews under 20 and over 65", "abolishing the standing passenger practice in public transport and reducing the number of seated passengers" brought a new understanding to public transport. Even if all precautions were removed with the normalization process, the virus continued to make its presence felt throughout the summer period. So, by re-imagining the transportation system; It is necessary to move towards a more flexible, more efficient and uninterrupted structure. In this article, the financial and economic crisis caused by COVID-19 has been named as "health crisis". The aim of this study is to investigate whether the "regional tariff" can be a solution in overcoming the cost problems arising in public transportation with the health crisis. In the study, October 2019 data of ESTRAM company, which carries out public transportation in Eskişehir, was used. These data were used to estimate the October 2020 data through simulation, and the regional tariff was created with the October 2020 forecast data. As a result of the study, it was concluded that in overcoming the health crisis, the regional tariff should be adopted, which is more fair for the society, flexible and prioritizing human health.