A quadratic programming model for designing and evaluating distance-based and zone fares for urban transit

A microcomputer based system for designing and evaluating distance-based and zone fares for transit properties is described. At the heart of the system is an optimization model that finds the fixed charge, mileage charge, and transfer charge that maximize gross revenue subject to constraints on ridership and the form of the fare equation. A linear approximation to the demand curve at the base case values results in a quadratic programming problem. Three alternative modes of using the model system are demonstrated using selected data from the Chicago Transit Authority. Model extensions and proposed future work are outlined.     

A decision model for evaluating transit pricing policies

Decision models that emphasize the relationship between control variables such as transit fares and performance measures like revenue and ridership can be of significant value to the transit manager's decision-making process. Since transit pricing has become a political issue, any transit fare model needs to examine the equity implications of proposed fare policies. To this end, the transit pricing decision model presented in this paper not only provides information on aggregate quantities such as revenue and ridership but more importantly, through use of the micro-simulation technique, facilitates analysis of the impact that various fare policies would have on selected groups of riders. The potential usefulness of the model is illustrated through an application to evaluate the impact of distance-based fare policies. The design of the model and supporting computer programs are, however, flexible enough to test a variety of fare structures and permit the model to be customized to a specific user's needs and data constraints.     

Efficiency of urban public transit: A meta analysis

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, to provide a statistical overview of the literature on public transit efficiency performance. Second, to statistically explain the variation in efficiency findings reported in the literature. To this end, first some key concepts of efficiency analysis will be introduced, while next the different frontier methodologies that are used in the literature will be discussed. The empirical part of this paper consists of a statistical summary of the literature as well as meta-regression analyses for different samples of the literature in order to identify key determinants of technical efficiency (TE) of public transit operators. For a broad sample of observations, we found significant and consistent effects of the type of database, region and output measurement method. For the sample of non-parametric studies we found that the type of frontier assumptions also have an impact on the efficiency ratio. Further results show that there is no statistical difference in TE ratios between parametric and non-parametric studies. Finally, we found a positive univariate relationship between the number of inputs in the estimated specification and the efficiency ratio.     

Sustainable urban transit network design

Sustainability is a requirement for modern public transportation networks, as these are expected to play a critical role in environment-friendly transportation systems. This paper focuses on developing an efficient model for solving a sustainable oriented variant of the Transit Route Network Design Problem. The model incorporates sustainable design objectives, considers emission-free (electric) vehicles and introduces a direct route design approach with route structure and directness control. An application in a real world case, highlights the performance and benefits of the proposed model.     

A GIS-based planning approach to locating urban rail terminals

This paper develops a flexible GIS-based methodology for evaluating the potential locations of terminal park-and-ride facilities along urban rail lines. The methodology differs from political-based approaches and traditional travel demand modeling in its use of an objective measure of accessibility to gage the suitability of a site. The methodology begins by constructing an index of derived demand for rail usage based on the local demographics. Principal component analysis (PCA) is used as a means of constructing an index of derived demand consistent with other passenger surveys. Next, trade areas or commutersheds are calculated for each candidate park-and-ride location based on realistic measures of accessibility and network based drive times, taking into account competition among candidates for riders. Following the analysis, the candidate locations and their commutersheds are delineated and visualized in the GIS environment. In summary, application of this method produces a site-specific suitability index that may be used to rank and compare potential park-and-ride locations. We illustrate how our approach fits within the context of the larger-scale corridor study as a complimentary means of refining the location of urban rail stations. The analysis uses the proposed rail system for Columbus Ohio as a case study. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A hierarchical customer satisfaction framework for evaluating rail transit systems of Istanbul

This paper provides a hierarchical customer satisfaction framework to measure rail transit lines’ performances in Istanbul. The problems related to rail transit line systems are addressed via customer satisfaction surveys. Then, a framework is proposed combining statistical analysis, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, trapezoidal fuzzy sets and Choquet integral to evaluate customer satisfaction levels. Next, the criteria need to be improved are determined and specific recommendations to enhance the operation for specific lines are suggested. The proposed framework provides directions for the future investments and it also can be used at a more macroscopic level to determine the operational deficiencies. Furthermore, it can be generalized and applied to complex decision making problems that include uncertain and subjective data or vague information.     

A dynamic stochastic model for evaluating congestion and crowding effects in transit systems

One of the most common motivations for public transport investments is to reduce congestion and increase capacity. Public transport congestion leads to crowding discomfort, denied boardings and lower service reliability. However, transit assignment models and appraisal methodologies usually do not account for the dynamics of public transport congestion and crowding and thus potentially underestimate the related benefits.This study develops a method to capture the benefits of increased capacity by using a dynamic and stochastic transit assignment model. Using an agent-based public transport simulation model, we dynamically model the evolution of network reliability and on-board crowding. The model is embedded in a comprehensive framework for project appraisal.A case study of a metro extension that partially replaces an overloaded bus network in Stockholm demonstrates that congestion effects may account for a substantial share of the expected benefits. A cost-benefit analysis based on a conventional static model will miss more than a third of the benefits. This suggests that failure to represent dynamic congestion effects may substantially underestimate the benefits of projects, especially if they are primarily intended to increase capacity rather than to reduce travel times.     

Impact of weather on urban transit ridership

Utilizing daily ridership data, literature has shown that adverse weather conditions have a negative impact on transit ridership and in turn, result in revenue loss for the transit agencies. This paper extends this discussion by using more detailed hourly ridership data to model the weather effects. For this purpose, the daily and hourly subway ridership from New York City Transit for the years 2010–2011 is utilized. The paper compares the weather impacts on ridership based on day of week and time of day combinations and further demonstrates that the weather’s impact on transit ridership varies based on the time period and location. The separation of ridership models based on time of day provides a deeper understanding of the relationship between trip purpose and weather for transit riders. The paper investigates the role of station characteristics such as weather protection, accessibility, proximity and the connecting bus services by developing models based on station types. The findings indicate substantial differences in the extent to which the daily and hourly models and the individual weather elements are able to explain the ridership variability and travel behavior of transit riders. By utilizing the time of day and station based models, the paper demonstrates the potential sources of weather impact on transit infrastructure, transit service and trip characteristics. The results suggest the development of specific policy measures which can help the transit agencies to mitigate the ridership differences due to adverse weather conditions.     

Subsidy and public transit performance: A factor analytic approach

The need to measure and evaluate transit system performance has led to the development of numerous performance indicators. However, depending upon the indicator, we oftentimes reach different conclusions regarding transit system performance. The research reported in this paper uses factor analytic methods to generate a set of underlying attributes (factors) that capture the performance of public transit systems in Indiana. Similar to what is reported in the literature, this study finds three attributes that best describe transit system performance: efficiency, effectiveness, and overall performance. Based upon systemsÕ factor scores, the study finds that systems scoring highly on one attribute generally perform well on the remaining attributes. Further, there is an inverse relationship between system performance and subsidies, a finding that supports performance based subsidy allocations.     

Flexible feeder transit route design to enhance service accessibility in urban area

To improve the accessibility of transit system in urban areas, this paper presents a flexible feeder transit routing model that can serve irregular‐shaped networks. By integrating the cost efficiency of fixed‐route transit system and the flexibility of demand responsive transit system, the proposed model is capable of letting operating feeder busses temporarily deviate from their current route so as to serve the reported demand locations. With an objective of minimizing total bus travel time, a new operational mode is then proposed to allow busses to serve passengers on both street sides. In addition, when multiple feeder busses are operating in the target service area, the proposed model can provide an optimal plan to locate the nearest one to response to the demands. A three‐stage solution algorithm is also developed to yield meta‐optimal solutions to the problem in a reasonable amount of time by transforming the problem into a traveling salesman problem. Numerical studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed model as well as the heuristic solution approach. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Long-term planning for ring-radial urban rail transit networks

Extensive work exists on regular rail network planning. However, few studies exist on the planning and design of ring-radial rail transit systems. With more ring transit lines being planned and built in Asia, Europe and the America's, a detailed study on ring transit lines is timely. An analytical model to find the optimal number of radial lines in a city for any demand distribution is first introduced. Secondly, passenger route choice for different rail networks is analyzed, for a many-to-many Origin-Destination (OD) demand distribution, based on a total travel time cost per passenger basis. The routes considered are: (1) radial lines only; (2) ring line only or radial lines and ring line combined; or (3) direct access to a destination without using the rail system. Mathematica and Matlab are used to code the route choice model. A cost-benefit optimization model to identify the feasibility and optimality of a ring line is proposed. Unlike simulations and agent-based models, this model is shown to be easily transferable to many ring-radial transit networks. The City of Calgary is used as an example to illustrate the applicability of each model. The existing urban rail network and trip distribution are major influencing factors in judging the feasibility and optimal location of the ring line. This study shows the potential net benefit of introducing a ring line by assessing changes in passengers’ costs. The changes in passenger cost parameters, such as ride cost and access cost, are shown to greatly influence the feasibility of a ring line.     

Organizational form and performance in urban mass transit

Ownership and management for urban mass transit organizations have taken many forms over the years, with publicly‐owned and managed systems now dominant. In recent years, however, strong economic and political forces have increased pressures for privatizing urban mass transit services. This review analyses 20 studies from three countries (predominantly the U.S.A.) on the relationship between organizational form and fixed‐route bus transit performance. It concludes that previous research has not made a persuasive case for the whole‐scale privatization of either ownership or management of urban mass transit organization. Conclusions here are intended to apply to the U.S.A. as well as other countries with mixed enterprise systems in which choices about organizational form may have some consequence for performance.     

Evaluating security of rail transit systems: A metric system approach

Crime and fear of crime is a major problem plaguing U.S. transit systems, particularly those serving large urban areas. This paper presents a normative framework for assessing rail transit security following a system-wide metric approach. The security metric can also be used to assess the marginal improvement in security as a result of improving or adopting alternative policing and monitoring strategies. The model consists of five tasks: surveying rail transit security systems, developing a rail transit security metric, assigning efficiency ratings to rail security functions, developing a composite index for the efficiency of the overall security system, and applying a probability matrix to temper the results. Efficiency ratings can be translated into probability of occurrence figures that can be used in a decision tree context to improve rail transit security.     

A disaggregate study of urban rail transit feeder transfer penalties including weather effects

Transfers between urban rail transit (URT) and its feeder modes represent a considerable barrier to its ridership and the network-wide usage of public transit. The aim of this research is to quantify the time-independent transfer penalty between URT system and feeder modes and to explore its variability by different factors. Based on Melbourne URT origin and destination survey data, this study focused on URT access and egress journeys and estimated URT feeder transfer penalties by formulating feeder mode choice models. With three-hourly weather data and demographical data introduced, this paper conducted disaggregate analyses to investigate the variability of URT feeder transfer penalty across weather conditions, trip types and individual characteristics. According to the model estimation results, the values of transfer penalty vary according to the direction of transfer and the preference ordering for different transfer combinations is URT-tram, URT-bus, tram-URT, bus-URT and auto-URT. It found that local weather elements in terms of air temperature and precipitation are significant factors resulting in the variability of the transfer perception by URT travellers. Transfer penalties for access journeys increase with the rise of air temperature. The non-linear effects of precipitation on URT feeder transfer penalties were observed. In addition, commuters perceive smaller transfer penalties than other travellers for all of the transfer combinations except for bus-URT transfers. Travelers from remote areas perceive smaller transfer penalties for access trips. Travellers’ loyalty to public transit restrains transfer penalties. The male travellers perceive higher transfer penalties than the female. The elderly travellers impose low transfer penalties to access journeys but high transfer penalties for egress journeys. Finally, the paper explored policy implications and details areas for future research.     

A new approach for evaluating regional exposure to particulate matter emissions from motor vehicles

Exposure to fine particulate matter from vehicle exhaust is associated with increased health risk. This study develops a new approach for creating spatially detailed regional maps of fine particulate matter concentration from vehicle exhaust using a dispersion model to better evaluate these risks. The spatial extent, diurnal, and seasonal patterns of concentration fields across Los Angeles County, California are evaluated and population exposure and exposure equity by race and income are investigated. The results demonstrate how this modeling approach can create new knowledge about vehicle emissions exposure. This approach also provides a method for proactively screening out regional plans, or specific projects within these plans, that are likely to cause air quality concerns. A proactive and regional air quality assessment can identify potential problems earlier in the planning process and a wider range of solutions, saving time, money and protecting public health. The detailed concentration maps can also be used to improve the siting of regulatory air quality monitors and provide more accurate exposure data for epidemiology studies.     

A causal inference approach to measure the vulnerability of urban metro systems

Transportation - Transit operators need vulnerability measures to understand the level of service degradation under disruptions. This paper contributes to the literature with a novel causal...     

Passenger-demands-oriented train scheduling for an urban rail transit network

This paper considers the train scheduling problem for an urban rail transit network. We propose an event-driven model that involves three types of events, i.e., departure events, arrival events, and passenger arrival rates change events. The routing of the arriving passengers at transfer stations is also included in the train scheduling model. Moreover, the passenger transfer behavior (i.e., walking times and transfer times of passengers) is also taken into account in the model formulation. The resulting optimization problem is a real-valued nonlinear nonconvex problem. Nonlinear programming approaches (e.g., sequential quadratic programming) and evolutionary algorithms (e.g., genetic algorithms) can be used to solve this train scheduling problem. The effectiveness of the event-driven model is evaluated through a case study.     

Coordination of urban transit services: The german model

In Germany, the need for coordination and integration of transport services has been seen as a pre-condition to improving public transportation. A major step in this direction,which attracted world-wide attention, has been the institution of the Transport Federation (Verkehrs verbund). The paper discusses the operation of the Hamburg Transit Federation and considers a number of factors which have created a favorable climate for the development of public transportation in Germany.     

Comparing the output of cost benefit and multi-criteria analysis: An application to urban transport investments

This work compares the outcome of Cost Benefit Analysis and a Multi-Criteria method when applied to a transport project. The Analytic Hierarchy Process was used, utilising two approaches to derive the weights. Results show that the outcome of the Multi-Criteria method did not match the one suggested by the Cost Benefit Analysis, but it did match the final decision by the authority. An important conclusion has to do with the relevance of incorporating other aspects into the assessment, apart from the economic ones. Furthermore, public opinion should be taken into account explicitly into the decision making, providing accurate and timely information about projects.