Para Transit is a popular informal public transportation service in Sri Lanka where three-wheeler plays the dominating role. There have been many studies carried out on para-transits known as informal public transport modes. In developing countries, most para-transit services are not regulated, and they function as a self-regulated manner. Many cities in developing countries have their own, often highly distinctive, forms of informal transportation. Research has revealed several factors which contribute to the emergence of an informal public transport service. Initially, these modes have developed suddenly to fill gaps in conventional transport of urban areas [1]. The need to have integrated transportation connectivity is ever-increasing in transport systems in many parts of the world. The three-wheeler fleet in Sri Lanka comprises of around 1,000,000 vehicles accounting for around 17% of the active motor vehicle fleet [2]. These three-wheeler operations demonstrate a lack of regulatory control, and cartelised service provision featuring oligopolistic market behaviour. 74% of three-wheeler operators are registered at a particular three-wheel park having an informal unionised operation, while the rest park their vehicles at different locations and are not among the unionised three-wheelers [3]. Three-wheelers complement and most of the time substitute public transport services by transporting passengers along routes on which bus service is not available. Nevertheless, users have to pay much higher fares than the public bus fare. The existing fare systems are of three types and include fares decided through negotiation, fixed fares and meter based fares. As a solution to fare charge conflicts, this paper presents fare index developed based on the vehicle operational cost. The paper is based on a survey of the operators who provide their services in Colombo Municipal Council area.

Kevitiyagala, P.K., & Bandara, Y.M. (2016). Developing a fare index for para transit: the case of urban three-wheeler taxi service in Sri Lanka [Extended Abstract]. In T.L. Gunaruwan (Ed.), Proceedings of 1st International Conference on Research for Transport and Logistics Industry 2016 (pp. 11-14). Sri Lanka Society of Transport and Logistics. https://slstl.lk/r4tli-2016/