The generators of paratransit trips by persons with disabilities

Identifying the generators of paratransit trips by persons with disabilities is important to comprehend the current demand patterns and forecast future demand. Only a handful of studies have been conducted so far to identify the generators of paratransit trips and most focused on the home end of the trips. Given some of the inconsistencies in past studies and the scarcity of studies on the generators of trips away from home, this study attempts to identify the generators of paratransit trips beginning and ending at clients’ homes and away from home. It uses an extremely large dataset consisting of 1.91 million trips made by NJ TRANSIT’s Access Link clients, socioeconomic data from the American Community Survey, employment data from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics, and establishment data from Dun and Bradstreet. The analytical methods include an ordinary least squares model (OLS) and several spatial generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) to identify the characteristics of census block groups associated with Access Link trip generation at home and away from home, Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis to identify the types of establishments located in the immediate vicinity of drop-offs, and a multinomial logit model (MNL) to examine the relationship between the characteristics of the establishments in the vicinity of drop-offs and the characteristics of the dropped-off clients. Together, the various analyses provide useful insights about paratransit trip generators at the macro and micro levels. Some implications of the findings are discussed.     

Link travel time inference using entry/exit information of trips on a network

This paper studies link travel time estimation using entry/exit time stamps of trips on a steady-state transportation network. We propose two inference methods based on the likelihood principle, assuming each link associates with a random travel time. The first method considers independent and Gaussian distributed link travel times, using the additive property that trip time has a closed-form distribution as the summation of link travel times. We particularly analyze the mean estimates when the variances of trip time estimates are known with a high degree of precision and examine the uniqueness of solutions. Two cases are discussed in detail: one with known paths of all trips and the other with unknown paths of some trips. We apply the Gaussian mixture model and the Expectation–Maximization (EM) algorithm to deal with the latter. The second method splits trip time proportionally among links traversed to deal with more general link travel time distributions such as log-normal. This approach builds upon an expected log-likelihood function which naturally leads to an iterative procedure analogous to the EM algorithm for solutions. Simulation tests on a simple nine-link network and on the Sioux Falls network respectively indicate that the two methods both perform well. The second method (i.e., trip splitting approximation) generally runs faster but with larger errors of estimated standard deviations of link travel times.     

Real-time trip purpose prediction using online location-based search and discovery services

The use of smartphone technology is increasingly considered a state-of-the-art practice in travel data collection. Researchers have investigated various methods to automatically predict trip characteristics based upon locational and other smartphone sensing data. Of the trip characteristics being studied, trip purpose prediction has received relatively less attention. This research develops trip purpose prediction models based upon online location-based search and discovery services (specifically, Google Places API) and a limited set of trip data that are usually available upon the completion of the trip. The models have the potential to be integrated with smartphone technology to produce real-time trip purpose prediction. We use a recent, large-scale travel behavior survey that is augmented by downloaded Google Places information on each trip destination to develop and validate the models. Two statistical and machine learning prediction approaches are used, including nested logit and random forest methods. Both sets of models show that Google Places information is a useful predictor of trip purpose in situations where activity- and person-related information is uncollectable, missing, or unreliable. Even when activity- and person-related information is available, incorporating Google Places information provides incremental improvements in trip purpose prediction.     

列车运行与优化系统的设计

随着世界能源消耗的逐年增长,燃油的节省技术越来越受到重视。本文就GE公司运输系统集团的新一代节油产品列车运行与优化系统设计展开讨论,针对软件模块功能进行介绍,也汇总了在全球应用的现状,最后展望了在中国应用的未来。     

出行链视角下城市轨道交通接驳方式联合选择模型

以城市轨道交通出行方式链为例,针对城市轨道交通两端的接驳方式,构建基于交叉巢式Logit(CNL)模型的城市轨道交通出行链联合选择模型。模型从出行全过程角度,将轨道交通两端的接驳方式纳入一个模型里进行联合选择。模型选取出行者社会经济特征,发生端出行特征,到达端出行特征三类特征变量,建立联合概率模型,对特征变量进行标定。模型结论显示:(1)以到达客流为主的城市轨道交通站点对于交通接驳便捷程度的敏感性更高;(2)公交接驳方式转化为小汽车接驳的可能性更高。对于揭示城轨接驳规律,优化轨道接驳系统具有实际意义。     

基于出行链的OD扩样方法研究

现状OD出行矩阵是分析城市居民现状出行特征的基础,也是未来出行分布模型标定的基础．本文借鉴出行链的理论研究成果,按照出行链的主要个体影响因素对不同属性的抽样数据分别进行扩样,在一定程度上消除了传统扩样方法的弊端,也提高了扩样过程的可理解性．同时,为保证该扩样方法具有可实施性,文中提出了构建城市街道的GIs平台、改进抽样方法、构建扩样系统和统一调研时间等四项措施,旨在进一步增加不同样本类别间抽样率的差别,提高扩样结果的质量．文章结尾进一步说明该方法在运用过程中需要同时注重出行链成果的更新和相应数据库的建立．     

A bi-objective cyclist route choice model

It is widely acknowledged that cyclists choose their route differently to drivers of private vehicles. The route choice decision of commuter drivers is often modelled with one objective, to reduce their generalised travel cost, which is a monetary value representing the combined travel time and vehicle operating cost. Commuter cyclists, on the other hand, usually have multiple incommensurable objectives when choosing their route: the travel time and the suitability of a route. By suitability we mean non-subjective factors that characterise the suitability of a route for cycling, including safety, traffic volumes, traffic speeds, presence of bicycle lanes, whether the terrain is flat or hilly, etc. While these incommensurable objectives are difficult to be combined into a single objective, it is also important to take into account that each individual cyclist may prioritise differently between travel time and suitability when they choose a route.This paper proposes a novel model to determine the route choice set of commuter cyclists by formulating a bi-objective routing problem. The two objectives considered are travel time and suitability of a route for cycling. Rather than determining a single route for a cyclist, we determine a choice set of optimal alternative routes (efficient routes) from which a cyclist may select one according to their personal preference depending on their perception of travel time versus other route choice criteria considered in the suitability index. This method is then implemented in a case study in Auckland, New Zealand.The study provides a starting point for the trip assignment of cyclists, and with further research, the bi-objective routing model developed can be applied to create a complete travel demand forecast model for cycle trips. We also suggest the application of the developed methodology as an algorithm in an interactive route finder to suggest efficient route choices at different levels of suitability to cyclists and potential cyclists.     

An analysis of the factors influencing differences in survey-reported and GPS-recorded trips

Recent advances in global positioning systems (GPS) technology have resulted in a transition in household travel survey methods to test the use of GPS units to record travel details, followed by the application of an algorithm to both identify trips and impute trip purpose, typically supplemented with some level of respondent confirmation via prompted-recall surveys. As the research community evaluates this new approach to potentially replace the traditional survey-reported collection method, it is important to consider how well the GPS-recorded and algorithm-imputed details capture trip details and whether the traditional survey-reported collection method may be preferred with regards to some types of travel. This paper considers two measures of travel intensity (survey-reported and GPS-recorded) for two trip purposes (work and non-work) as dependent variables in a joint ordered response model. The empirical analysis uses a sample from the full-study of the 2009 Indianapolis regional household travel survey. Individuals in this sample provided diary details about their travel survey day as well as carried wearable GPS units for the same 24-h period. The empirical results provide important insights regarding differences in measures of travel intensities related to the two different data collection modes (diary and GPS). The results suggest that more research is needed in the development of workplace identification algorithms, that GPS should continue to be used alongside rather than in lieu of the traditional diary approach, and that assignment of individuals to the GPS or diary survey approach should consider demographics and other characteristics.     

基于网络均衡的运输通道客流分配模型

根据各运输方式的经济技术特征,构建了运输通道的时空运营网络来描述各运输方式的竞争性。认为旅客的时间价值(VOT)服从某种分布,旅客的广义出行费用取决于票价和时间两个参数。运用城市交通分配网络均衡思想,提出基于网络的区域运输通道多交通模式客流分配模型,建立了用户最优和系统最优两个目标函数,并给出了模型的求解方法。用一数值示例验证了模型的有效性。