Case study of Gothenburg’s tram network resilience and disruption management strategies

Abstract

This study looks at resilience in the tram network of Gothenburg in regards to response to disruptions and the organizational actors’ roles in disruption management and network design. It follows a qualitative single case research design, based on semi-structured interviews with the key actors Göteborgs Spårvägar, Västtrafik, and Stadsmiljöförvaltningen, as well as document analysis. The data collected was analysed through the Systemic Resilience Model to understand the current state of the network and potential improvement areas based on best practices identified by the literature. The findings highlight weaknesses in the system that arise from an overworked central hub, lack of infrastructure for resilience, and organizational complexities. Given the increasing demand for public transport, ensuring these issues are properly understood and managed is essential for the system’s long-term well-being. The analysis suggests prioritizing certain areas in order to improve systemic resilience, namely a more centralized network design, line and frequency changes, and additional infrastructure. These changes would allow to improve resilience, redundancy and robustness, while keeping customer satisfaction. This study contributes to existing research and organizational procedures by conceptually analysing the tram network of Gothenburg, providing insights for public transport actors for improving network resilience and disruption management techniques, as well as scholars by using the Systemic Resilience Model in conjunction with qualitative data gathering for studying network resilience.