The Guidelines set out eight main stages toward bus service improvement:
STAGE 2: DESCRIBING THE STARTING POINT
STAGE 4: EXPLORING DIFFERENT STRATEGIES
STAGE 5: DEVELOPING THE IMPROVEMENT PLAN
STAGE 6: WORKING OUT THE FINANCES AND ECONOMICS
STAGE 7: IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN
It is recommended that Stages 3–6 of the Guidelines be used in an iterative way. Initially, the Goals may not be fully achieved – at least in the medium-term – due to constraints, such as available finance, the current organizational and regulatory frameworks, or the technical capacity of the operators.
In such cases, earlier phases can be reviewed and revised taking into account expected outcomes and/or barriers. Perhaps targets need to be modified, or enabling actions must be added to the direct actions. In the long run, policy advocacy would have to be resorted to in order to make the external environment conducive to public transport.
The main advantages of an iterative approach are:
Figure 1 summarizes the process involved in developing bus service improvements.
Figure 1 Guideline Structure for Bus Service Improvement
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