Methodical Approach to Assessing the Transport Accessibility in the Northern Regions

Delakhova Anna Mikhailovna Senior Scientific Associate, Scientific Research Institute of Regional Economy of the North, Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University 678000, Russia, respublika Sakha (yakutiya), g. Yakutsk, ul. Prospekt Lenina, 1, of. 710 anna.delakhova@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The regional transport system, providing basic living conditions in the region, is one of the main elements of the production infrastructure and a decisive factor in the territorial organization of the region's economy ^[10]. At the same time, it is believed that the transport system as a type of economic activity creates conditions for the functioning of the economic complex of the region and its socio-economic development.

Currently, the role of the transport system in the socio-economic development of territories (country, region, municipality) is determined by a number of volume, cost and quality characteristics of the level of development of the transport system and transport services ^[3]:

• the volume characteristics of the service of the transport system directly affect the completeness of the implementation of economic relations within and outside the territories, as well as the possibility of the movement of material and other flows to meet production and social needs;
• the cost characteristics of transportation (transportation costs) of any product are reflected in its final cost and added to production costs, which in turn affects the competitiveness of products and the area of its sale;
• the qualitative characteristics of the functioning of the transport system are related to speed, timeliness, rhythm, safety and environmental friendliness. The speed of movement of flows in the transport system affects the efficiency of economic ties, and when transporting goods, it affects the release of working capital of enterprises. The regularity and rhythm of transportation are of great economic importance for enterprises, as they directly affect the level of stocks necessary to maintain the continuity of the reproductive cycle and supply to the population.

The peculiarities of the functioning of the transport system affect the conditions of the functioning of the sphere of production and consumption and the socio-economic development of territories, and the level of transport security and accessibility is an indicator of the potential of efficiency within regional processes.

Transport accessibility as one of the economic characteristics of the territory implies the ability of economic entities to use the transport network with the possibility of delivering goods by time and distance. Thus, this indicator reflects the efficiency of spatial placement of objects of the transport system of the region.

The scientific literature presents a lot of ^[4] methodological recommendations and the development of practical tools for assessing the level of transport security of territorial structures as an opportunity for regional economic entities to use the transport network. Table 1 presents the main generally accepted methods for calculating transport security based on quantitative transport indicators.

Table 1 – Systematization of generally accepted methods for assessing the level of transport security of territories

Source: compiled on the basis of the works of M.V. Ivanov.

The indicators presented in Table 1 do not reflect the qualitative result of the work of the reference transport network.  The methodology for assessing the availability of transport services solves the problems of supply logistics, taking into account distances and variations of modes of transport, but regional peculiarities and complexity of supply chains are also not taken into account here. To determine paired or integral transport accessibility, data on complex transport costs are used in relation to the population of the region, which is impossible to use in conditions of a small population with a huge territory of the region.

The methods of assessing social transport accessibility are also highlighted, characterizing the transport mobility of the population, transport discrimination of the population and the availability of transport services (Fig.1).

Figure 1 – Parameters for determining transport accessibility

Transport accessibility is defined as "one of the determining parameters of the economic system, characterizing not only the transport infrastructure, but also the entire socio-economic sphere" ^{[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]}.

To date, there are numerous methods and methodologies for analyzing and assessing the state of regional transport systems that determine the type and level of development of transport networks at: micro- (settlements, production sites), meso- (municipalities, economic zones, regions) and macro- (the country as a whole) levels.

However, the existing methods do not take into account, including:

•  interests of consumers of transport communications;
• other types of transport communications in addition to year-round paved roads;
• non-identity of social and economic efficiency of measures for the development of transport infrastructure;
• conflict of interests of administrative systems of territories of various levels.

The most common foreign methods include the following types of transport accessibility (Fig.2):

1.                  Intraregional accessibility. This concept is primarily related to the organization of intraregional trade related to the concepts of utility from transport accessibility and the costs of its organization, which is realized in the form of the relationship of two functions: the function of activity, reflecting the possibilities of communication, and the function of resistance (impedance), reflecting obstacles (counteractions) to free movement within the region;  

2.                  Selective availability or accessibility to pre-planned locations. Here, the costs (cost or time) of moving come out in the first place when the condition for ensuring the function of the activity is fulfilled, since the accumulated generalized expenses in monetary or time units for trips to a variety of destinations are taken into account;

3. Availability at fixed moving costs. we are talking about fulfilling the condition of moving an object within a specified time interval (for example, during which destinations of interest can be reached) or at a fixed cost of money (daily availability);

4.                  Multimodal accessibility. This concept reflects the presence of two or more ways of moving an object in space. The differences between the methods of movement are expressed by the parameters of time, cost, distance and quality;

5. Multimodal accessibility (from multi - multiple and modal - view). Accessibility associated with the use of various modes of transport is based on finding the shortest delivery route in a multimodal network. The generalized transfer cost function should contain additional parameters that take into account the waiting time and transfer, loss of quality during transportation;

6.                  Potential availability. Corresponds to the provision that the attractiveness of the destination increases with consumer preferences and decreases with increasing travel costs: travel time or cost. This concept was introduced to account for the effects of agglomeration.

The above classification shows that transport accessibility is associated with both transport and non-transport factors that determine the economic development of the region, and how important the choice of transport accessibility indicators is.

Most of the proposed practical developments to substantiate the methodology for assessing transport accessibility and transport security are based on such indicators as:

- spatial values of the location of the transport infrastructure of the territory and their ratio to the population and the volume of goods shipped;

- time spent on transport and logistics operations;

- financial costs of transportation in order to determine the degree of increase in the cost of cargo transportation.

Figure 2 – Foreign methods of assessing the level of transport accessibility

Having analyzed the main approaches to the assessment of transport networks, it can be concluded that modern studies of domestic and foreign scientists and practitioners in the field of regional economics and management of transport systems do not fully take into account the existing features of the transport system in the regions of the North - the widespread use of temporary roads (autozymers), which in practice analyses of transport accessibility and transport potential of territories are usually not used.

Problem statement and justification of the methodological approach

Transport accessibility of territories for the northern regions is one of the most important factors in the processes of production and distribution of products. It is believed that within the framework of sectoral and territorial planning of any economic activity, it is necessary to take into account all three types of transport accessibility of territories:

· spatial (placement of elements and objects of the transport system);

· temporary (days of transport availability/time for delivery of goods);

· economic (full transport and logistics costs).

For the hard-to-reach territories of the northern regions, it is spatial transport accessibility that is of great importance for the economic and temporary components of transport accessibility. Thus, the level of spatial transport accessibility is a factor in the rise in the cost of delivery and the need for seasonal (deposit) storage of cargo. 

In the author's previous works, the structure of transport and logistics systems of the northern regions was analyzed, where a high proportion of seasonal communications was established ^[13,14]. The peculiarities of the transport systems of the northern regions, in addition to seasonality, are also:

· focal nature of the development of territories;

· isolation of transport routes;

· difficult conditions for the construction and operation of communication routes;

· multi-link cargo delivery

· high operating costs with low long-distance cargo and passenger traffic

It is the seasonality of functioning and the peculiarities of the formation of transport and logistics systems in the northern regions that affect the complexity and complexity of cargo delivery for the life support of the population of the Far North of the country.

In accordance with the scientific and methodological note of the Institute of Socio-Economic and Energy Problems of the Komi North of the Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Calculation of correction coefficients to the standards of budget expenditures in the allocation of funds of the Fund for Financial Support of municipalities in the Komi Republic for 2004"  the mathematical model used to calculate the coefficient of transport accessibility (Ci td) takes into account the population of agglomerations, the level of transport connectivity and the time spent on the movement of goods and passengers. A slightly different approach to assessing transport accessibility is presented in the "Methodology for calculating and distributing subsidies to equalize the budgetary provision of urban districts" in the Altai Territory ^[15]. In this methodology, when calculating the adjusted number of consumers of budget services of urban districts, factors that affect the increase in the cost of providing budget services to the population are taken into account. Also, the methodological approach to assessing transport accessibility is presented in the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 670 dated November 22, 2004 "On the methodology for distributing subsidies to equalize the budgetary provision of the subjects of the Russian Federation", taking into account the indicators of the density of transport routes and the proportion of the population. In the work of N.E. Barbashov ^[12], a reasonable criticism was put forward of the current formula for the distribution of subsidies to equalize budget security. In the article, it was found that there is a negative relationship between the length of transport routes of regions and the amount of transfer, i.e., with an increase in the length of roads, the amount of subsidies to regions with initially low transport accessibility decreases. The author of the article, using the simulation modeling method, carried out a quantitative assessment of the reduction in subsidies to regions with low transport accessibility in the event of an increase in the length of roads in 2020 and assessed the potential impact of such a reduction on the policy of regional authorities. Thus, the need to revise this methodology is obvious.

We believe that the indicator for seasonal networks in the conditions of the North should be taken into account in full, including all operated types of transport communications, due to the lack of alternatives and the impossibility of excluding one of them from the general transport support system.

Currently, when planning the logistics activities of enterprises for the delivery of goods to the hard-to-reach territories of the Arctic zone of Russia and the territories of the Far North, in particular, within the framework of the "northern delivery" of goods, there is no practice of taking into account the transport accessibility of territories. At the same time, the methodology for assessing the transport accessibility of the territories of northern regions with a high proportion of seasonal transport communications should be built within the framework of complete "independence" from fluctuations in prices for transport services. It is the factors of seasonality, multiplicity and complexity of delivery that are the factors of the rise in prices for the delivery of goods.

The issues of the effective organization of the "northern delivery" of goods for the life support of the population living in the hard-to-reach territories of the Far North concern issues of national security, energy security and security of the country's borders. The development of the regulatory framework of the "northern delivery", aimed at creating unified organizational and economic mechanisms, involves the formation of a single financing fund, the funds of which will be used to compensate for the transport costs of cargo delivery to the hard-to-reach territories of the northern regions. The volume of distribution of subsidized state support within the framework of reimbursement of transportation costs for the delivery of life-sustaining goods must be justified taking into account the spatial transport accessibility of territories. 

Taking into account the above, there is a need to develop methodological tools for assessing the level of transport accessibility of the territories of the northern region, taking into account the length of annually renewable seasonal highways and quality indicators.

Thus, the author suggests that when developing methodological tools for assessing the level of transport accessibility of territories for northern regions, 3 coefficients characterizing the spatial characteristics of transport systems of the North should be taken into account:

- the coefficient of seasonality;

- coefficient of complexity (and multi-link);

- coefficient of variability (the possibility to change the transport scheme of cargo delivery).

Material and methods

A comprehensive assessment of the transport accessibility of local economic systems in the regions of the North should include a combination of factors and objects of transport and logistics infrastructure that contribute to the fulfillment of tasks for the timely movement of material flows.

Within the framework of the dissertation research to substantiate the economic mechanisms of management of the oil products supply system in the northern regions, the author proposes the author's methodology for assessing the level of transport accessibility:

To TD i is the coefficient of transport accessibility for i locality (determined by formula 3).

,                    (3)

where:

 – the coefficient of seasonality of transport infrastructure on the territory of the first settlement;

 – coefficient of complexity of transport schemes for cargo delivery to the territory of the first settlement (all levels of supply chains, the need for deposit storage, transshipment, receiving and storage services are taken into account);

 – coefficient of variation, representing the potential for changing the main transport schemes to alternative delivery methods.

1)                 The first component of the transport accessibility coefficient is the seasonality coefficient, reflecting the specific operating conditions of the transport system in the Arctic zone of the republic.

 calculated as follows:

 ,                      (4)

where:

 – the number of days of seasonal operation of all types of communication routes (transport), except aviation, days.

When calculating the indicator for the i-th settlements, it is necessary to use the average annual indicators of the working hours of winter trucks based on official documents of the Ministry of Transport and Road Management of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the average values of the navigation duration of the Lena River, the Yana River, the Indigirka River, the Kolyma River for the previous 5 years (2015-2020).

2)                 The second component of the transport accessibility coefficient is the complexity coefficient of transport schemes for cargo delivery to the territory of the i-th settlement, which takes into account all levels of supply chains, the need for deposit storage, transshipment, receiving and storage services. This coefficient reflects the multiplicity and complexity of cargo delivery to the Arctic regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

To calculate the coefficient, decomposed data of the main transport schemes for the delivery of goods to all settlements of the Arctic regions of the republic and weighted average costs for the delivery of petroleum products were used. At the same time, the value if the delivery to the settlement is carried out in one stage, and if there is transshipment, storage and additional transport and logistics services, the value increases according to Table 2.

Table 2 - Determination of the coefficient of complexity

3) The third component of the transport accessibility coefficient is the coefficient of variability, which represents the potential for changing the main transport schemes to alternative delivery methods. Since the support network of airports of the Federal State Institution "Airports of the North" operates in the territories of the Arctic regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and stable air traffic has been formed, for this coefficient the presence of only two maximum possible communication routes from the points of departure of goods will be taken into account: automobile and inland water transport (river).

There are three main types of cargo transportation in the Arctic regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia): aviation, automobile (winter truck), and water. Analysis of the availability of transport for cargo transportation to settlements in the Arctic regions showed that each settlement has one of 5 types of transport combinations: 1 – automobile, 2 – automobile and water, 3 – aviation and automobile, 4 – automobile and water, 5 – water, aviation and automobile. The coefficient of variation for each i-th locality is determined by the types of transport available for cargo transportation:

            (5)

where:

 – total number by type of transport availability;

– one number out of the number of only one type of transport communication for the i-th locality;

 – one number out of the number of only two types of transport communication for the i-th locality;

 – one number out of the number of only three types of transport communication for the i-th locality.

The availability of all three types of transport for cargo transportation is equal to: . The number of combinations of three types of transport communication of two types: . The presence of only one type of transport is determined by the number of combinations of one of the three according to the formula:

            (6)

The practical significance of the proposed methodology lies in the possibility of applying this procedure for calculating the level of transport accessibility of the Arctic territories within the framework of improving the system of cargo delivery planning and economic mechanisms of state support for enterprises engaged in socially significant life support functions within the framework of northern delivery, in terms of reimbursing or subsidizing part of the transport costs for the delivery of vital goods.

Results and their discussion

To calculate the value of the coefficient of seasonality and transport accessibility of settlements in the Arctic zone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the actual terms of operation of the transport system of the region were used based on data for 2020 on the timing of the opening and closing of the shipping situation (Order No. 335 of October 22, 2020 of the FBU "Administration of the Lena Basin of Inland Waterways") and data on terms of operation of winter trucks (Order No. OD-450 of November 23, 2020 "On Amendments to the Order of the Ministry of Transport and Road Management of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) of October 06, 2020 No. OD-397 "On approval of the approximate schedule for the opening and closing of seasonal highways located on the Territory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the winter period of 2020/2021", as well as the responses of municipalities to the request of the Ministry for the Development of the Arctic and the Affairs of the Peoples of the North of the RS (Ya)).

The calculation of the Ksln for the Arctic settlements of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) was carried out on the basis of existing transport delivery schemes and the current location of transport infrastructure facilities in the region.

The Arctic regions are characterized by the presence of only one type of transport for cargo transportation – automobile. Separately, only water and aviation methods of cargo delivery are absent, therefore .

Figure 3 shows the results of calculating the coefficients of the level of transport accessibility for each i-th locality in the context of three municipal districts of the Yan group of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where the spread of the coefficient of transport accessibility is 3.27 points. At the same time, in certain localities of one of the municipal districts, there is an equally high level of transport inaccessibility.

Figure 3 - Results of approbation of calculation of coefficients of the level of transport accessibility according to the proposed methodology in the context of three municipal districts of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

The data obtained make it possible to conduct a comparative analysis and give a quantitative assessment of the transport and logistics costs for the delivery of goods to municipal areas. Undoubtedly, the indicators of transport accessibility of municipal districts calculated in this way quite subjectively reflect its economic efficiency, nevertheless, it is universal, reflecting the peculiarities of the transport system of the northern regions, amenable to mathematical calculation.

Conclusion

The advantage of this method of assessing the transport security of local economic systems is the high degree of its adaptation to the changing macroeconomic situation in the region. In the process of calculation, the methodology allows taking into account a set of quantitative and qualitative indicators, thus giving the most complete and objective account of the activity of the transport system of the municipality in dynamics. The developed methodology will allow to give a quantitative assessment of this indicator, to identify unevenness and asymmetry in the transport security of local economic systems of the regions of the North.

Also, another advantage of this technique is the fulfillment of the basic condition in which the delivery price is not taken into account, which allows you to use the evaluation result in planning the volume of financial support and not depend on fluctuations in prices for transport services.

The practical significance of the proposed methodology lies in the possibility of applying this procedure for calculating the level of transport accessibility of the Arctic territories within the framework of improving the cargo delivery planning system and economic mechanisms of state support for enterprises engaged in the socially significant function of life support of the Arctic in terms of reimbursement or subsidizing part of the transport costs for the delivery of vital goods.