Publikationer

The creation of an efficient public transport system increasingly requires collaboration between independent organizations. Institutional reforms in Europe have created governance situations where collaboration between organizations is a critical issue, and examples include the integration of transport and land-use planning and the planning of large public transport projects. The organizational context of public transport, with several formal, discrete organizations that need to collaborate, raises questions about how functioning collaborations can be accomplished. This paper examines how to create functioning collaboration between organizations in the public transport sector. We depart from a theory of collaboration as a stepwise trust-building process, and we present results from a comparative case study of collaboration in two Swedish public transport projects. The results show some of the prerequisites that must be in place in order for the collaboration to work, but also the boundaries of what collaborative approaches can bring about. Conditions such as honest, open, and inclusive dialog between stakeholders and resources in the form of finance, knowledge, mandate, and leadership are important. While there is no guarantee that this will lead to differences in interests being resolved, the results indicate that it improves the chances of finding compromises that all of the involved stakeholders can accept, especially if favorable conditions for collaboration are established at an early stage of the planning process. Building on these findings, we suggest some practical recommendations for improving collaboration in future public transport projects. These practical recommendations are aimed at improving the handling of unavoidable conflicts in collaboration in a constructive way.

Denna rapport är ett resultat från forskningsprojektet Energieffektivisering genom minskad biltrafik i städer: policy, process och institutioner. Projektet finansieras av Energimyndigheten. Målet med projektet är att bidra till energieffektiviseringen av transportsystemet genom att utveckla kunskap om metoder och arbetssätt för minskad biltrafik i kommuner. Projektet syftar också till kunskapsspridningen om dessa metoder. Många kommuner och regioner har som målsättning att öka kollektivtrafikens andel av det motoriserade resandet. Åtgärder som minskar bilresandet ökar möjligheten att nå dessa målsättningar.

The purpose of the paper is to analyse informal collaboration in the public transport sector. Two Swedish case studies, Living lab Uddevalla and Guidelines for Regional BRT are analysed and compared concerning what kind of learning occurred and what lessons regarding informal collaboration to draw from the two cases. For both cases the analysis indicates that individual, single loop learning is the most striking type of learning among the participants. The voluntary approach of the two cases has advantages and drawbacks. Advantages include that participants were truly interested in the issues of collaboration, which created energy and contributed to building trust. The main drawback identified was that in both cases the voluntary enthusiasm of the participants collided with the formal requirements of planning and decision making. This has stifled the possibility of the informal collaboration processes to induce change in prevailing practices.

Denna rapport handlar om vad Sveriges kommuner gör för att främja kollektivtrafikresandet. Trots att kommunerna oftast inte har direkt rådighet över kollektivtrafiken spelar de en helt central roll genom att ha ansvar för andra områden med stor påverkan för kollektivtrafikens attraktivitet. Därmed är kommunernas arbete av stor vikt för en omställning till ett mer hållbart transportsystem. Genom fysisk planering och trafikplanering spelar kommuner exempelvis en viktig roll när det gäller att skapa långsiktiga förutsättningar för ökat resande med kollektivtrafiken. I många fall är även kommunerna stora arbetsgivare vilket innebär att de som kan ha möjlighet att påverka sina anställdas resvanor. Kommuner spelar även en viktig roll när det gäller åtgärder som påverkar användningen av bilar, exempelvis parkering och andra typer av åtgärder såsom omfördelning av trafikytor.

This paper is about collaboration in public transport governance. Drawing upon the emerging literature that views collaboration through the lens of networks, we explore why and how regional public transport authorities collaborate with both municipalities and public transport operators in the planning of public transport. We also explore the advantages and disadvantages of such collaborations. Based on interviews with civil servants (government officers) in the Swedish metropolitan regions of Stockholm, Västra Götaland and Scania, we conclude that collaboration is, firstly, a way for the regional public transport authorities (RPTA) to engage with the local municipalities and develop joint agreements on public transport priorities. It is also a way to build a common identity with the public transport operators, who operate services under tendered contracts. Secondly, we find that collaboration takes place during official meetings, as well as in informal conversations and face-to-face dialogues. Thirdly, the potential advantages and disadvantages of collaboration hinge on the ability of coordinating actors to put in place processes where the feasibility of plans can be established, and where a sense of common identity can be constructed.