Societal Impact of Innovative Urban Public Transport Systems in South African and Zimbabwean Cities: Fid-Bau Portal

Societal Impact of Innovative Urban Public Transport Systems in South African and Zimbabwean Cities

Gumbo, Trynos / Moyo, Thembani / Ndwandwe, Bongumusa / Risimati, Brightnes / Mbatha, Siphiwe Given

Economic opportunity is often prioritized more than the human experience. Over the years this has led to a growth in the widespread belief that Urban Public Transport does not offer societal benefits to commuters (such as comfort and convenience). Hence, the proliferation of private vehicles in urban centers. Traditionally, urban public transport developers and institutions often aim at mastering the infrastructure developments and implementation of urban public transport. This trend has led to a knowledge gap of how recent advancements in public transportation in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution can be evaluated to ensure societal gains. This chapter, therefore, builds on the previous one by exploring the social impact of innovative urban public transport. A mixed-method approach was used to unpack case studies in South African and Zimbabwean cities. In recent years, crowdsourced data has become an integral element in assessing feedback or opinions from citizens and has provided reliable big data for the purpose of analyzing innovative urban public transport systems. Hence, GeoWeb 2.0 crowdsourced data was used to analyze the societal impact of public transportation systems across the metropolitan cities. Findings reveal that innovative urban public transport institutions have existing policies and corporate social responsibility functions. Furthermore, the cognitive elements influencing commuter mobility trends reveal commuter satisfaction rates. Thus, this represents a new platform to appraise existing measures for ensuring that the role of citizen-based innovation in public transportation is sustainable and is captured to public transportation development.