Optimization of bus stop placement for routes on uneven topography

The improvement and expansion of public transport is an increasingly important solution to the high congestion costs and worsening environmental impacts of the car dominated transport systems seen in many cities today. The intelligent design of stop locations is one way to improve the quality of PT and thereby improve its ridership. Stop placement is a relatively complex task as it involves a trade-off between two competing goals; accessibility and operation; however this trade-off can be made explicit using an appropriate mathematical model. Many such models have been developed in the literature, however none consider the effects of uneven topography. Topography is an important but often neglected factor in the design of public transportation systems, with the potential to have a significant impact on the accessibility, operation and planning of a transit service. In this work a mathematical modelling approach to bus stop placement is developed which includes considerations of uneven topography in three ways; (1) Its effect on walking speed; (2) Its impact on the attractiveness of an access path to a transit service; and (3) Its effect on acceleration rates at stops. Because of the complexity of the model developed, a heuristic evolutionary algorithm’ is employed to approximate an optimal solution to the model. Finally, the model and solution method are applied to a case study in the Auckland CBD area in New Zealand.     

Modeling the interaction between buses,passengers and cars on a bus route using a multi-agent system

This paper models part of a public transport network (PTN), specifically, a bus route, as a small-size multi-agent system (MAS). The proposed approach is applied to a case study considering a ‘real world’ bus line within the PTN in Auckland, New Zealand. The MAS-based analysis uses modeling and simulation to examine the characteristics of the observed system – autonomous agents interacting with one another – under different scenarios, considering bus capacity and frequency of service for existing and projected public transport (PT) demand. A simulation model of a bus route is developed, calibrated and validated. Several results are attained, such as when the PT passenger load is not close to bus capacity, this load has no effect on average passenger waiting time at bus stops. The model proposed can be useful to practitioners as a tool to model the interaction between buses and other agents.     

Subjective well-being in China: how much does commuting matter?

With rapidly increasing urbanization and motorization in China, the effect of commuting on residents’ subjective well-being (SWB) is likely growing. We used 13,261 individual, 124 city, and 401 neighbourhood samples from the 2014 China Labour-Force Dynamics Survey (CLDS 2014) and applied multilevel mixed-effects ordered probit regressions to investigate the relationship between commuting and SWB. We found huge differences between urban and rural areas in relation to commuting. Urban respondents’ daily average commuting time was 0.56 h while rural respondents’ daily average commuting time was 0.41 h. Further, the daily average commute time for residents living in cities with high urbanization rates (> 70%) was longer than for those living in cities with low urbanization rates (< 70%). The subjective well-being of residents who commute by walking or cycling was significantly lower than that of those who commute by other transportation modes. The regression results indicated that the longer the commute time, the lower the subjective well-being. Among residents who live in rural areas or cities with low urbanization, subjective well-being was more easily affected by commuting time. Commuting time was also found to influence residents’ job satisfaction and family life satisfaction, which in turn influence SWB. China’s current development mode ignores the traffic needs of vulnerable groups. Therefore, future traffic construction should increase its prioritization of these vulnerable transportation groups.

     

Impact of public transport and non-motorized transport infrastructure on travel mode shares,energy, emissions and safety: Case of Indian cities

Current modal share in Indian cities is in favor of non-motorized transport (NMT) and public transport (PT), however historical trends shows decline in its use. Existing NMT and PT infrastructure in Indian cities is of poor quality resulting in increasing risk from road traffic crashes to these users. It is therefore likely that the current NMT and PT users will shift to personal motorized vehicles (PMV) as and when they can afford it. Share of NMT and PT users can be retained and possibly increased if safe and convenient facilities for them are created. This shall also have impact on reducing environment impacts of transport system.We have studied travel behavior of three medium size cities – Udaipur, Rajkot and Vishakhapatnam. Later the impact of improving built environment and infrastructure on travel mode shares, fuel consumption, emission levels and traffic safety in Rajkot and Vishakhapatnam are analyzed. For the purpose three scenarios are developed – improving only NMT infrastructure, improving only bus infrastructure and improving both NMT and bus infrastructure.The study shows the strong role of NMT infrastructure in both cities despite geographical dissimilarities. The scenario analysis shows maximum reduction in CO₂ emissions is achieved when both PT and NMT infrastructure are improved. Improvement in safety indicator is highest in this scenario. Improving only PT infrastructure may have marginal effect on overall reduction of CO₂ emissions and adverse effects on traffic safety. NMT infrastructure is crucial for maintaining the travel mode shares in favor of PT and NMT in future.     

Environmental impacts of public transport systems using real-time control method

Public Transport (PT) systems rely more and more on online information extracted from both operator’s intelligent equipment and user’s smartphone applications. This allows for a better fit between supply and demand of the multimodal PT system, especially through the use of PT real-time control actions/tactics. In doing so there is also an opportunity to consider environmental-related issues to approach energy saving and reduced pollution. This study investigates and analyses the benefits of using real-time PT operational tactics in reducing the undesirable environmental impacts. A tactic-based control (TBC) optimization model is used to minimize total passenger travel time and maximize direct transfers (without waiting). The model consists of a control policy built upon a combination of three tactics: holding, skip-stops, and boarding limit. The environmental-related measure is the global warming potential (GWP) using the life cycle assessment technique. The methodology developed is applied to a real life case study in Auckland, New Zealand. Results show that TBC could reduce the GWP by means of reduction of total passenger travel times and vehicle travel cycle time. That is, the TBC model results in a 5.6% reduction in total GWP per day compared with an existing no-tactic scenario. This study supports the use of real-time control actions to maintain a reliable PT service, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and subsequently moving towards greener PT systems.     

The effects of planned and unplanned transfers on public transport users' perception of transfer routes

Many authorities are investing in new infrastructure to improve the quality of public transport (PT) services in the hope to increase mode switch from cars. The goal is to provide users with an integrated multimodal PT network by facilitating transfers. There exists a lack in the clarity of the attributes which defines a planned transfer and the effects of planned transfers on users' willingness to use routes with transfers. The present study provides approximate effects of ‘planned’ and ‘unplanned’ transfers on PT users' decisions to use transfer routes. The study focuses on two attributes of ‘planned’ transfers, integrated physical connection of transfers and information integration. A user preference survey was undertaken in Auckland, New Zealand. Analysis of the results shows that physical integration is more important than information integration for current PT users. Results also suggest that information integration has a greater influence on users of transfer services which are more closely aligned to being ‘unplanned’.     

Improved reliability of public transportation using real-time transfer synchronization

Service reliability of public transportation (PT) systems is a dominant ingredient in what is perceived as the PT image. Unreliable service increases the uncertainties of simultaneous arrivals of vehicles at a transfer point. Implementing proper control actions leads to preventing missed transfers, one of the undesirable features of PT service and a major contributor to a negative image. The present work focuses on performance measurements of a PT system offering direct transfers on multi-legged trips. The method developed evaluates and improves system performance by applying selected operational tactics in real-time scenarios. In order to investigate the efficiency level of the PT system, five types of vehicle positional situations with reference to a transfer point are considered: considerably ahead of schedule, ahead of schedule, on schedule, behind schedule, and considerably behind schedule. Each situation contributes differently to the degree of system performance. The optimization framework developed results in selected operational tactics to attain the maximum number of direct (without waiting) transfers and minimize total passenger travel time. The implementation of the concept is performed in two steps: optimization and simulation. The optimization process searches for the best operational tactics, using the states of the five vehicle-position types, and the simulation serves to validate the optimal results under a stochastic framework using the concept of a multi-agent system. A case study of Auckland, New Zealand, is described for assessing the methodology developed. Results showed a 58% improvement in the system performance index compared to no-tactic operations.     

The taxi's role in urban America: Today and tomorrow

Changes in the economic and demographic characteristics of US cities over the past two decades have modified but have not diminished the need for extensive public transportation service in these areas. The vast bulk of trips to work, to shop, and for most other purposes within large American cities are still made by residents of those cities, a significant portion of whom do not own or have access to an automobile. Expensive and far-ranging programs to enhance surburban commutation to the central city by means of rail rapid transit do little to meet the needs of those who still must rely upon local, extensive service within the city.One form of public transport — the taxicab — offers the quality and flexibility of service which even those of limited means find well worth the price. As a consequence, fleet taxicabs serve almost 40 percent more passengers than all US rapid transit systems and about 60 percent as many passengers as all bus transit systems. Removal of archaic and restrictive regulations governing the number and use of taxicabs in major US cities would promote more effective and widespread use of this, the only form of public transit that still operates — at a profit — without public subsidy.     

The Movingo integrated ticket: seamless connections across the mälardalen region of Sweden

ABSTRACT

The need for improved public transport (PT) ticketing in ever-growing deregulated PT markets has made well-designed integrated ticketing systems a priority area of intervention for PT service providers around the world. Yet, very little practical evidence of its impacts are reported in Sweden and in the world at large. The focus of this study was the impacts of the Movingo integrated ticketing scheme in terms of PT patronage, user satisfaction and the perceived quality of the ticketing set-up. Three travel surveys were conducted along the Stockholm-Uppsala route. Methods including logistic regression and correlated t-tests were used to analyse the samples. The findings suggest that the scheme made rail commuting more attractive resulting in an overall increase of about 24% in ticket sales with 3% – 15% car commuters reporting that they patronised PT services after the project. The scheme also resulted in increased rail commuter satisfaction. The overall perceived quality of the ticketing set-up did not however improve due to interoperability challenges. Service providers’ uncertainty about equitable distribution of revenue among the participating service providers, interoperability challenges and the lack of interest among most of the participating service providers to sell Movingo tickets are some issues to be addressed.     

Analyzing the gap between the QOS demanded by PT users and QOS supplied by service operators

This research evaluated the effectiveness of tendered bus public transportation (PT) in improving the attractiveness of that service in order to promote sustainable mobility. This was accomplished by characterizing the gap between the quality of service (QOS) supplied by contract regimes and that which is demanded by passengers. Analysis of a customer satisfaction survey aimed at bus users provided insight into their ranking of 14 QOS parameters while 13 active service contracts were analyzed for their impact on QOS. In-depth interviews with relevant experts completed the complex narrative that is Israel’s policy of privatization in PT. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses helped identify those QOS parameters most in demand by passengers and impacted by contracts. The results show that the gap is minimal, high demand parameters receive increased priority in contracts. In addition this research documented an evolution in the method contracts employed to provide QOS. Late model contracts define an increasingly higher minimum QOS; but also strongly limit the operator’s ability to make service changes. This is a trend which should improve QOS in Israel but reduce the incentive for operator enacted QOS initiatives. Despite its obvious success to date, it might be time to change again the contract regime for the provision of competitive bus services in Israel.     

Assessing asymmetric response effect of behavioral intention to service quality in an integrated psychological decision-making process model of intercity bus passengers: a case of Taiwan

This study introduces the concept of loss aversion to consumer behavioral intention at the personal psychological level to develop an integrative structural equation model for analyzing traveler psychological decision making. In this model, the relationship between behavioral intention and service quality is a non-smooth function based on the theory of loss aversion. The expectation service quality in the SERVQUAL model proposed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (PZB) serves as a reference point. This model can be applied to analyze the effect of non-smooth response of behavioral intention to service quality in a traveler psychological decision-making process model. Intercity travel among cities in Taiwan is used as an empirical example. Data were gathered in cities in Taiwan via a questionnaire survey, and the model was tested using path analysis performed by LISREL. The empirical result shows that all causal relationships are statistically significant. Service quality loss influences repurchase intention more than does Service quality gain. Finally, this study concludes by discussing managerial implications and suggesting directions for future research.

Customers’ selections between premium electric taxis and liquefied petroleum gas taxis

Reducing roadside emissions is a common challenge in metropolitan cities. In Hong Kong, conventional liquefied petroleum gas taxis are one of the main contributors to roadside emissions as they operate on the streets 24 h a day with a long daily driving mileage. Moreover, these taxis suffer from a severely poor service reputation. To enhance the environmental friendliness and service quality of the taxi industry, this study explores the market potential of operating premium electric taxis in the dispatching mode. A stated preference survey was conducted to 1410 taxi customers about their taxi-riding choices between premium electric taxis and conventional liquefied petroleum gas taxis. In total, 5640 observations were obtained and used to develop a series of binary logistic regression models with different model formulations for the determination of the significant factors influencing customers’ selections. The findings indicate that walk time to and wait time for taxis were the most critical concerns to the customers, and they were more willing to take premium taxis if their journey distance was longer and their desired improvement on taxi service quality was greater. The socio-demographic status of taxi customers also influences their choices. The associated policy implications are discussed for promoting taxis with better service quality and fewer roadside emissions. The findings provide some policy insights to other international cities that have a similar taxi market to Hong Kong.     

Trip time-stop time studies of extreme driver behaviors

The focus of the present study has been to investigate the extent to which drivers with “extreme” modes of behavior deviate from the “normal” (chase-car) trend in a given city. The experiment consisted of collecting trip time-stop time data in the Central Business District (CBD) of Roanoke, Virginia, using three vehicles circulating simultaneously in the area. While one of the three vehicles was engaged in the chase-car mode, the other two vehicles were driven aggressively or conservatively. Similar data were also collected in the Austin, Texas, CBD. Using the data for each driver type, three two-fluid trends are established for the Roanoke CBD: an aggressive, a normal (chase-car), and a conservative trend. On a trip time-stop time diagram, while the conservative and aggressive trends are essentially parallel, the conservative trend approaches the normal trend at off-peak periods. The aggressive trend, on the other hand, approaches the normal trend at peak periods. The differences among the trends, however, are by and large statistically significant. Similar results have been obtained in Austin—despite uncertainties at high levels of demand, where the normal trend may cross the aggressive trend. The results also underline the importance of common data collection techniques when comparing the quality of traffic service of various cities using the two-fluid model approach. In assessing the statistical significance of differences among the two-fluid trends of various city networks, the potential impact of driver behavioral variations must be considered.     

Nature or nurture: why do railroads carry greater freight share in the United States than in Europe?

During the 1950s, the share of freight carried by railroads was similar and declining in both the United States and Europe. By 2000, the railroads’ share of freight (measured in ton–kilometers) had reached 38% in the United States while falling to 8% in Europe. This paper examines the reasons for the difference in rail’s share of freight in Europe and the United States. We find that almost 83% of the gap in 2000 is probably due to natural or inherent differences, principally geography, shipment distance, and commodity mix. However, 17% of the gap cannot be explained by these inherent differences and is presumably due to public policies including priority of passenger service, lack of interoperability at borders, service quality and rates, and incentives of the rail operators. We estimate that if that policy gap were closed, railroads’ share of freight in Europe would increase from 8% to 13%.

Transit network design for small-medium size cities

This paper proposes a novel heuristic to solve the network design problem for public transport in small-medium size cities. Such cities can be defined as those with a diameter of a few kilometers with up to a few hundred thousand residents. These urban centers present a specific spatial configuration affecting the land use and mobility system. Transportation demand is widespread in origin and concentrated in a small number of attraction points close to each other. This particular structure of demand (‘many-to-few’) suggests the need for specific methodologies for the design of a transit system at a network level. In this paper, such design methodologies are defined in terms of models and solution procedures and tested on a selected case study. The solution methods show promising results. The key variables of the model are the routes and their frequencies. The constraints of the problem affect the overall demand to be served, the quality of the proposed service (transfer, load factors) and the definition of routes.     

Optimal combinations of selected tactics for public-transport transfer synchronization

Handling efficiently and effectively real-time vehicle control is of major concern of public transport (PT) operators. One related problem is on how to reduce the uncertainty of simultaneous arrivals of two or more vehicles at a transfer point. Improper or lack of certain control actions leads to have missed transfers, one of the undesirable features of the PT service. Missed transfers result in increase of passenger waiting and travel times, and of passenger frustration. This work focuses on reducing the uncertainty of missed transfers by the use of control tactics in real-time operation. The developed model improves the PT service performance by optimally increasing the number of direct transfers and reducing the total passenger travel time. This model consists of two policies built upon a combination of two tactics: holding and skip-stop/segment, where a segment is a group of stops. The implementation of the concept is performed in two steps: optimization and simulation. The optimization searches for the best combination of operational tactics. The simulation serves as a validation of the optimal results under a stochastic framework. A case in Auckland, New Zealand is used. The results show that by applying the holding-skip stop, and holding-skip segment tactics the number of direct transfers are increased by about 100% and 150%, and the total passenger travel time is reduced by 2.14% and 4.1%, respectively, compared with the no-tactic scenario. The holding-skip segment tactic results with 47% more direct transfers than the holding-skip stop tactic for short headway operation.     

Drivers of customer satisfaction with public transport services

This paper aims to improve the understanding of the drivers of customer satisfaction with public transport (PT). The methodology provides a relevant contribution to the previous studies since it highlights the complex interaction between the level and composition of satisfaction, negative social safety experiences (NSSEs), urban settings, and the PT mode used.Overall, PT users see the service attributes on-time performance, travel speed, and service frequency as the most important, followed by personnel/driver behaviour and vehicle tidiness. A generic policy aimed at achieving these attributes may yield favourable results with respect to satisfaction.Further, we demonstrate the influence of differences in customer characteristics on satisfaction. A policy aimed at increasing the service frequency and putting new vehicles into operation will probably lead specifically to more satisfied older people (>65), passengers travelling by regional train, and people living in dense urban areas.These findings may be of help to PTAs intending to exert an influence on the actions of PT operators, for instance by using them as a measuring rod in incentive contracts.     

Time taken for residents to adopt a new public transport service: examining heterogeneity through duration modelling

When a new public transport service is introduced it would be valuable for public authorities, financing organisations and transport operators to know how long it will take for people to start to use the service and what factors influence this. This paper presents results from research analysing the time taken for residents living close to a new guided bus service to start to use (or adopt) the service. Data was obtained from a sample of residents on whether they used the new service and the number of weeks after the service was introduced before they first used it. Duration modelling has been used to analyse how the likelihood of starting to use the new service changes over time (after the introduction of the service) and to examine what factors influence this. It is found that residents who have not used the new service are increasingly unlikely to use it as time passes. Those residents gaining greater accessibility benefits from the new service are found to be quicker to use the service, although the size of this effect is modest compared to that of other between-resident differences. Allowance for the possibility that there existed a proportion of the sample that would never use the new service was tested using a split population model (SPD) model. The SPD model indicates that 36% of residents will never use the new service and is informative in differentiating factors that influence whether Route 20 is used and when it is used.

Spatial variations in attitudes toward expanded public transit service

Although recent budgetary considerations by the Federal govenment do not portend well for urban public transit, some transit systems are considering expansion into less densely-settled areas further from the Central Business District. Of some concern to planners has been their belief that suburban and rural dwellers may be much less inclined than urban dwellers to support expansion of transit service. This paper presents an analysis of a random-digit dialing/mail-out, mail-back survey conducted in Washtenaw County, Michigan which was designed specifically to examine differences in attitudes between urban and rural residents. Six mutually-exclusive spatial strata were established based upon population density. This paper tests for expected spatial differences in socioeconomic and demographic variables and then examines spatial variations in attitudes toward public transportation. The major conclusion is that the expected spatial variations in attitudes about transit service provision between the spatial strata do not arise. Most of the significant differences found are with respect to questions which relate to where transit is provided. Residents in rural (urban) areas support more strongly the provision of services to rural (urban) areas. Many residents, however, will support transit service that may not benefit them directly.     

Reducing car dependence in the heart of Europe: lessons from Germany,Austria, and Switzerland

Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, and Zurich – the largest cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland – have significantly reduced the car share of trips over the past 25 years in spite of high motorisation rates. The key to their success has been a coordinated package of mutually reinforcing transport and land-use policies that have made car use slower, less convenient, and more costly, while increasing the safety, convenience, and feasibility of walking, cycling, and public transport. The mix of policies implemented in each city has been somewhat different. The German cities have done far more to promote cycling, while Zurich and Vienna offer more public transport service per capita at lower fares. All five of the cities have implemented roughly the same policies to promote walking, foster compact mixed-use development, and discourage car use. Of the car-restrictive policies, parking management has been by far the most important. The five case study cities demonstrate that it is possible to reduce car dependence even in affluent societies with high levels of car ownership and high expectations for quality of travel.