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Public transport performance not only directly depicts the convenience of a city's public transport, but also indirectly reflects urban dwellers' life quality and urban attractiveness. Understanding why some regions are easier to get around by public transport helps to build a green transport friendly city. This paper initiates a new perspective and method to investigate how public transport network's morphology contributes significantly to its performance. We investigate the significance of morphology from the perspective of graph classification – by extracting the typical local structures, called "motifs", from the multi-modal public transport multigraph. A motif is seen as a certain connectivity pattern of different transport modes at a local scale. Combinations of various motifs decide the output of graph classification, particularly, public transport performance. We invent an innovative method to extract motifs on complex spatial multigraphs. The proposed method is adaptable to unify complex factors into one simple form for swift coding, and depends less on observational data to handle data unavailability. In the study area of Beijing, we validate that the measure can infer varied public transport efficiencies and access equalities of different regions. Some typical areas with undeveloped or unevenly distributed public transport are further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travel behavior of the present generation of youths is being increasingly explored due to their relevance in shaping future accessibility needs and mobility habits. The present study offers an original perspective on this topic by identifying territorial disparities that emerge in youth mobility patterns in rural and urban areas. Unlike most previous research, we propose taking a global view on mobility by analyzing all trip purposes and transportation modes. This is conducted by analyzing a comprehensive mobility survey in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region, which provides data on mobility engagement, trip purposes, modal split, travel times and territorial differences. In general, youngsters account for larger daily travel times than older adults, present a higher attachment to public transportation and walk less on a daily basis. These differences are enhanced in rural territories, where while older adults overcome accessibility issues with higher use of the private vehicle, youngsters are more likely to invest larger travel times on transit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aims to examine differences in risk evaluations according to whether individuals have been exposed to adverse security events in transport during the last five years. In addition, a path model is tested where risk evaluations predict intentions to use public transport and use of such transport in these groups. The results are based on a survey conducted in a randomly obtained representative sample of the Norwegian urban public (n = 1043). The results showed that individuals who had been exposed to adverse security events in public transport reported substantially higher risk perception of experiencing security issues in such transport than those who were not exposed. Exposed individuals also reported higher probability judgements and more worry of experiencing injury in public transport. The path model showed that high probability judgements of experiencing injury in public transport were related to a lower intention of using such transport, whereas corresponding worry in the private motorized sector predicted a stronger intention to use public transport. Demand for risk mitigation in the public transport sector was found to be more relevant for intentions to use public transport than similar demands in the private motorized sector. The path model and coefficients were not found to differ significantly according to exposure to security events in public transport. The findings are discussed in relation to the role of negative risk experiences for risk evaluations in transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial–temporal accessibility of a transport system assesses the spatial–temporal constraints faced by individuals based on their fixed activities and the ability of the transport system to facilitate trading time for space in movement. Previous studies either measured the individual spatial–temporal accessibility of a general transport network or measured the cumulative-opportunity accessibility by public transit through an exclusive computation of the bottom of the full network time prism. By contrast, the current study measures the individual spatial–temporal accessibility by public transit by integrating timetable and passenger departure time and computing the full network time prism. A public transit network is modelled as a time-dependent weighted directed graph, wherein every single directed arc is associated with a time-dependent travel time to represent the linkage between two adjacent stops on a transit route. The time-dependent travel time assigned to arcs is determined according to timetables, which is particularly assigned to infinity when transit service is unavailable between two stops. A modified network potential path area (N-PPA) algorithm based on the time-dependent weighted directed graph is employed to produce a potential path area for the activity participation of an individual by public transit. The proposed methodology is applied as a case study to measure individual spatial–temporal accessibility using the Salt Lake City TRAX system. Results indicate that the outcome of the proposed methodology is sensitive to departure time of passengers. The results of this study provide suggestions on potential improvement of bus/rail line layout and timetables and may aid in trip planning of passengers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free-floating car-sharing has been one of the latest innovations in the car-sharing market. It allows its customers to locate available vehicles via a smartphone app and reserve them for a short time prior to their rental. Because it is available for point-to-point trips, free-floating car-sharing is not only an alternative to private cars, but also to public transportation. Using spatial regression and conditional logit analysis of original transaction data of a free-floating car-sharing scheme in Switzerland, this research shows that free-floating car-sharing is mainly used for discretionary trips, for which only substantially inferior public transportation alternatives are available. In contrast to station-based car-sharing, it does not rely on high-quality local public transportation access, but bridges gaps in the existing public transportation network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of transportation research has been accelerating in the last decade. In this paper, we examine the structure of scientific collaboration in transportation research by building a coauthorship network using publication metadata from 22 transportation journals. In this network, a vertex represents a researcher and an edge represents the collaboration (coauthorship) between a pair of researchers. To build an accurate network, we propose and apply an efficient author name correction algorithm. The obtained network provides us with a tool to understand patterns of collaborations in transportation research. The results show an increasing trend of collaboration over the studied period (1990–2015), but different journals exhibit different patterns. We characterize the structural properties of this network and compute several centrality measures to quantify the performance/impact of researchers and their collaborations in the research community. This study could serve as a tool to qualitatively and quantitatively understand scientific collaborations in transportation research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an effort to reduce traffic congestion and excess dependency on private vehicles in Riyadh City, authorities are considering introducing public transport infrastructure and enforcement policies. This study was conducted to evaluate whether the current Riyadh City transport policy measures are adequate to encourage public transport ridership and identify relevant transport policy measures to encourage a shift from use of private cars to public transport. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted in Riyadh during June and July 2015. Seventeen study participants were selected to represent local stakeholders including transport experts and representatives of Riyadh City authorities. It was found that existing transport policy measures involve conventional approaches, for example, increasing road infrastructure to match growth in private vehicle ownership. There is, however, considerable support for reshaping the existing travel demand management policies and measures along with introducing a public transport system. Improving infrastructure to enhance accessibility to and from transit stations, selecting appropriate transit-oriented development sites, parking charges, separate carriages for families, and promoting the safety of public transport facilities are perceived as the most effective strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Equity refers to a fair sharing of costs or resources. Horizontal equity concerns distribution among individuals or groups with the same necessities, whereas vertical equity should be considered in situations with different levels of needs. This paper deals with transit service, looking at how to make it equitable from a spatial and social point of view. Traditionally equity has been neglected in transit planning, being in the best cases an afterthought during service provision. Hence, we propose a methodology to plan and design public transport routes, which meets the needs of communities fostering equitable accessibility. In this paper we put forward a method to incorporate horizontal and vertical equity goals in a Transit Network Design Problem. We study how the costs of the system change with the attained level of equity and found that higher overall costs may be born if more equitable service provision has to be pursued. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Travelcards are used in many parts of the developed world as a form of payment for public transport that is convenient for frequent users. In essence it involves a one-time payment T at the beginning of a period that covers all trips within that period. Carbajo (1988) applies the two-part tariff approach to find the optimal (welfare maximizing) value for T assuming a nil effect of T on the demand schedule of each and every individual (no income effect). Here we deal with an urban area where individual trips increase with income, but where car ownership – correlated with income – makes the public transport share diminish towards high income segments. A theoretical model is developed to find the optimal values (maximum social welfare with a budget constraint) for T and, simultaneously, for a single ticket P , considering the effect of T on available income as well as differences across individuals regarding car ownership. The model is applied using parameters associated with monthly travel in Santiago, Chile, where both income and car ownership are highly concentrated and correlated, and where travelcards do not exist. We obtain that the two richest segments choose to pay for the single ticket and the other eight choose to buy the travelcard, increasing equity. Sensitivity analysis regarding public transport quality, increased car ownership and poverty reduction show relatively marginal changes regarding optimal prices and preferred form of payment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking urban public transit network as research perspective, this work introduces the influences of adjacent stations on definition of station initial load, the connected edge transit capacity, and the coupled capacity to modify traditional load-capacity cascading failures (CFs) model. Furthermore, we consider the coupled effect of lower layered public transit network on the CFs of upper layered public transit network, and construct CFs coupled model of double layered public transit network with 'interdependent relationship'. Finally, taking Jinan city's public transit network as example, we give the dynamics simulation analysis of CFs under different control parameters based on measurement indicator of station cascading failures ratio (abbreviated as CF) and the scale of time-step cascading failures (abbreviated as ), get the influencing characteristics of various control parameters, and verify the feasibility of CFs coupled model of double layered public transit network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Railroad companies rely on good call centers to reliably handle incoming crew/resource call demands so as to maintain efficient operations and customer services in their networks. This paper formulates a reliable caller districting problem which aims at partitioning an undirected network into a fixed number of districts. The demand of each district is assigned to crew caller desks (one primary desk, multiple backups) under possible desk disruption scenarios. We simultaneously take into account several operational criteria, such as district contiguity and compactness, workload balance, and caller desk service reliability. The resulted districting problem is modeled in the form of a challenging mixed-integer program, and we develop a customized heuristic algorithm (based on constructive heuristic and neighborhood search) to provide near-optimum solutions in a reasonable amount of time. Hypothetical and empirical numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the performance and effectiveness of our methodology for different network sizes and parameter settings. Managerial insights are also drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The choice to use public transit as a mean of travel is largely influenced by walking access from origin to transit facilities. Existing network planning uses a 400-m walking distance to bus stops to define the catchment area. This approach has been questioned in the literature because of its inability to take into account various factors pertaining to walking access. Using household travel survey data of Brisbane, Australia, this research explores the variation in walking time among individuals with different socioeconomic standings. Bus users in Brisbane are first divided intotrue transit captive usersandnontrue transit captive usersto compare their walking times to bus stops, which shows no significant difference. In a subsequent analysis, nontrue transit captive users are further divided into eight groups using the two-step clustering technique. A comparative analysis reveals that walking time is most sensitive among part-time workers, high-income earners, and elderly travelers. Walking time is least sensitive among postsecondary students who are studying and working at the same time. Findings from this study will contribute to the understanding of people's walking access to public transit, the reasons for substantial variations across individuals, and potential impacts of individuals' socioeconomic characteristics, which will assist transit service planning to tailor different market segments more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Public perceptions and cinematic portrayals of Ghanaian passenger transportation vehicles and their drivers have undergone a massive transformation on film in the past fifty years. Colonial films depicted these vehicles as a symbol of modernity and drivers as cosmopolitan men, but contemporary Ghanaian popular culture portrays these vehicles and their drivers through a negative lens. This article uses ethnographic and archival data to explain why this shift occurred and its effects on the contemporary tro-tro industry. Portrayals of these vehicles have shifted because of a combination of historical, geographical, and social factors, including historical change, urbanization, proximity to corruption, the spread of HIV/AIDS, differences in rural settings, socioeconomic status, and perceptions of safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waiting time in transit travel is often perceived negatively and high-amenity stops and stations are becoming increasingly popular as strategies for mitigating transit riders’ aversion to waiting. However, beyond recent evidence that realtime transit arrival information reduces perceived waiting time, there is limited empirical evidence as to which other specific station and stop amenities can effectively influence user perceptions of waiting time. To address this knowledge gap, the authors conducted a passenger survey and video-recorded waiting passengers at different types of transit stops and stations to investigate differences between survey-reported waiting time and video-recorded actual waiting time. Results from the survey and video observations show that the reported wait time on average is about 1.21 times longer than the observed wait time. Regression analysis was employed to explain the variation in riders’ reported waiting time as a function of their objectively observed waiting time, as well as station and stop amenities, weather, time of the day, personal demographics, and trip characteristics. Based on the regression results, most waits at stops with no amenities are perceived at least 1.3 times as long as they actually are. Basic amenities including benches and shelters significantly reduce perceived waiting times. Women waiting for more than 10 min in perceived insecure surroundings report waits as dramatically longer than they really are, and longer than do men in the same situation. The authors recommend a focus on providing basic amenities at stations and stops as broadly as possible in transit systems, and a particular focus on stops on low-frequency routes and in less safe areas for security measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A utility-based travel impedance measure is developed for public transit modes that is capable of capturing the passengers’ behaviour and their subjective perceptions of impedance when travelling in the transit networks. The proposed measure is time-dependent and it estimates the realisation of the travel impedance by the community of passengers for travelling between an origin–destination (OD) pair. The main advantage of the developed measure, as compared to the existing transit impedance measures, relates to its capability in capturing the diversity benefit that the transit systems may offer the society of travellers with different traveling preferences. To clarify the necessity of such capability, we demonstrate the randomness (subjectivity) of travel impedance perceived by transit passengers, through evidence from the observed path choices made in the transit network of the greater Brisbane metropolitan region in Australia. The proposed impedance measure is basically a nested logit “logsum” composition over a generated set of reasonable path options whose systematic utilities are evaluated based on a discrete choice model previously developed and calibrated for the greater Brisbane transit passengers. As a case study, the proposed impedance measure is calculated for all the origin blocks in the Brisbane area, during the morning commutes to the Central Business District (CBD). The results are presented and discussed, and intuitive and important advantages are demonstrated for the proposed measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focuses on passengers’ satisfaction of the taxi service in Doha, Qatar. Qatar is a rich developing country where taxis are widely considered as a public transportation service due to the limited use of the existing bus service and the profoundly dominant use of private car by expats and Qatari locals. The main objective of this research is to identify the quality attributes of the current taxi service. A descriptive analysis relating the demographic, accessibility, and trip purposes to taxi users in general in Doha with overall service satisfaction was conducted. A Structural Equation Model was used to assess the taxi service attributes that influence the users’ perceived satisfaction. Two models were developed: one was a relationship between the demographic and satisfaction of the users while the other was between the trip time and the satisfaction of the users. The first model supports the premise that income is the greatest attribute in the demographic followed by marital status, age, and occupation. On the other hand, the latter model demonstrated that waiting time is the most contributing variable among the times spent by taxi users followed by walking from work to a station, journey time, and walking from home to a station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A feeder-trunk scheme has been labeled as superior in urban areas due to the presence of economies of density (decreasing average operating cost) along the avenues served by trunk lines. We compare this structure against three types of direct lines structures (no transfers) to serve a stylized public transport network where several flows converge into a main avenue, simultaneously optimizing fleet and vehicle sizes considering both users’ and operators’ costs. The best structure is shown to depend not only on the total passenger volume but also on demand imbalance, demand dispersion in the origins and the length of the trunk line. The region where the feeder-trunk structure dominates depends largely on the value assigned to the pure transfer penalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network risk assessment takes into consideration the probability that adverse events occur and the impacts of such disruptions on network functionality. In the context of transport networks, most studies have focused on vulnerability, the reduction in performance indicators given that a disruption occurs. This study presents and applies a method to explicitly account for exposure in identifying and evaluating link criticality in public transport networks. The proposed method is compared with conventional measures that lack exposure information. A criticality assessment is performed by accounting for the probability of a certain event occurring and the corresponding welfare loss. The methodology was applied for a multi-modal public transport network in the Netherlands where data concerning disruptions was available. The results expose the role of exposure in determining link criticality and overall network vulnerability. The findings demonstrate that disregarding exposure risks prioritizing links with high passenger volumes over links with a higher failure probability that are significantly more critical to network performance. The inclusion of exposure allows performing a risk analysis and has consequences on assessing mitigation measures and investment priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between public transit and crime has been extensively investigated for decades. Compared to rail systems, limited research has been conducted on bus transit and its surrounding robbery influence. In particular, most of the studies have focused on either all types of robbery as a whole or street robbery only. Street and off-street robberies have distinct spatial characteristics, however: The former occurs on the street, whereas the latter occurs not on the street but at indoor places or in (semi)public areas. Therefore, they might have different proximity to bus transit. Furthermore, as bus transit is not operated twenty-four hours a day, it is questionable to connect bus transit with robbery when bus transit is not in service. This study uses exploratory spatial data analysis and statistical modeling to compare and contrast street and off-street robberies to discover how their relations with bus transit vary in space and time. Results reveal that both street and off-street robberies decrease as the distance from bus stops increases. Compared to off-street robbery, street robbery is inclined to occur on the street without bus routes and during nonservice hours, respectively. These findings suggest that the preference of street robbery is related to the excess of suitable targets over capable guardians away from bus routes and when bus transit is not in operation, whereas off-street robbery is connected with the residential and commercial attractions along bus routes and people's frequent activities at these places during transit service hours. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper offers an alternative conceptualization of informality within the transport sector. While it shows that informal transport is a far from trivial component of urban economies, it also highlights the sometimes problematic use of informality to homogeneously describe various public transport modes within the Southeast Asian transport landscape. It initially reviews a number of contested assumptions in the informality discourse within the context of public transportation in developing cities. It then proposes the concept of indigenous transport as a potential alternative, arguing that such perspective may better acknowledge and describe the mode's local and vernacular qualities as well as its complementary and supplementary functions. For the purposes of this paper, indigenous transport is described to pertain to those modes that respond to local demand, evolved based on local conditions and endemic to local mobility cultures. The indigenous transport framework aims to elucidate the five key characteristics of indigenous transport modes from a transport user's perspective. This is supported by an empirical study conducted in three Southeast Asian developing cities of varying geographical scales, namely Baguio (Philippines), Bandung (Indonesia) and Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) to provide evidence that a transport user's prism will and can authentically present an alternative version of informality, and assist in painting an overall picture of the role of indigenous transport within the transport system of developing cities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Transport systems can play an important role in increasing physical activity (PA). Bogotá has been recognized for its bus rapid transit (BRT) system, TransMilenio (TM). To date, BRTs have been implemented in over 160 cities worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the association between PA and the use of TM among adults in Bogotá. The study consists of a cross-sectional study conducted from 2010 to 2011 with 1000 adults. PA was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. In a subsample of 250 adults, PA was objectively measured using ActiGraph accelerometers. Analyses were conducted using multilevel logistic regression models. The use of TM was associated with meeting moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). TM users were more likely to complete an average of >22 min a day of MVPA (odds ratio [OR] = 3.1, confidence interval [CI] = 95 % 1.4-7.1) and to walk for transportation for ≥150 min per week (OR = 1.5; CI = 95 % 1.1-2.0). The use of TM was associated with 12 or more minutes of MVPA (95 % CI 4.5-19.4, p < 0.0001). Associations between meeting PA recommendations and use of TM did not differ by socioeconomic status (p value = 0.106) or sex (p value = 0.288). The use of TM is a promising strategy for enhancing public health efforts to reduce physical inactivity through walking for transport. Given the expansion of BRTs, these results could inform the development of transport PA programs in low- to high-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the modal shift potential of introducing a free alternative (free public transportation) and of changing the relative prices of transportation is examined. The influence of a cognitive analysis on the zero-price effect is also analyzed. The data used for the analysis stem from a stated preference survey with a sample of approximately 670 respondents that was conducted in Flanders, Belgium. The data are analyzed using a mixed logit model. The modeling results yield findings that confirm the existence of a zero-price effect in transport, which is in line with the literature. This zero-price effect is increased by the forced cognitive analysis for shopping trips, although not for work/school or recreational trips. The results also demonstrate the importance of the current mode choice in hypothetical mode choices and the importance of car availability. The influence of changing relative prices on the modal shift is found to be insignificant. This might be partially because the price differences were too small to matter. Hence, an increase in public transport use can be facilitated by the introduction of free public transport, particularly when individuals evaluate the different alternatives in a more cognitive manner. These findings should be useful to policy makers evaluating free public transport and considering how best to target and promote relevant policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bicycle is often understood as a disjointed ‘feeder’ mode that provides access to public transport. We argue that combined use of the bicycle and public transport should be understood in a broader perspective, especially where bicycles link to higher speed and higher capacity public transport, such as the train. Cycling and public transport can have a symbiotic relationship forming a hybrid, distinct transport mode, which should be reflected in transport planning. The bicycle is as a way to soften the rigid nature of public transport and thus accommodate diverse individual travel needs and situations. Public transport can be seen as a means to dramatically extend cycling’s speed and spatial reach. We combine a system perspective with conceptual analysis to explore how, why and when this reconsideration is important. We use the Netherlands as illustrative case because of the relative maturity of its bicycle–train connections. The case shows that the synergy between rather opposite yet highly complementary aspects, high speed of the train, high accessibility of the bicycle and flexibility in combining both sub-modes, are the fundamental characteristics to understand the functioning of this system in a wider spatial context. In our conclusion we propose a research agenda, to further explore the relevance of this system for land-use and transport planning and distil wider implications for the international debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how service science principles may be used for engineering and realizing improved public transport services. It approaches a value co-creation perspective for the management of public transport service operations based on an activity-based model of a generic service system that allows capturing requirements for software intensive service systems. The main focus is on specific implementation issues of the activity-based model of the generic service system, with a strong accent on its most representative component, the service set-up and configuring unit. This model is applied in a case study for planning of a public transport service and describes how a specific service reconfiguring request is formulated. This examination is further used as a document of requirements that drives the construction of an agent-based model expressing value-creation interactions among service system’s stakeholders in public transport services. The usefulness of the developed agent-based model for the analysis of service systems operational capabilities is suggested through simulation. A business scenario related to the management of public transport services is described, and the defined agent-based model is executed with the Presage2 multi-agent programming platform in order to capture specific issues of piece-of-work planning. The proposed approach, evaluated on the simple working scenario, fosters the role of service interaction modeling in supporting a public transport service system to dynamically adapt its operational capabilities in delivering good public transport services, as more or less quantifiable changes can affect service delivery over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a weight reduction design approach for urban transit carbody using a material selection method and size optimization. First, the material selection method, which uses specific stiffness and strength indices to predict the weight reduction rate, is set up when the materials of the under-frame and roof structure are substituted. The CFRP was chosen as the best weight reduction material in terms of the material selection method but was not appropriate for application to an urban transit carbody as a thin panel because of out-of-plane deformation. Therefore, we applied CFRP-AL honeycomb sandwich composites to the under-frame and roof structures, and the size optimization method was subsequently applied to derive a lightweight composite hybrid carbody design. Finally, the proposed approach was applied to an urban transit carbody, i.e., a Korean electrical multiple units carbody made of aluminum extrusion profiles. The weight of the optimized composite hybrid carbody design was 29.0% lighter than that of the original K-EMU. The resulting composite hybrid carbody design satisfied the design guidelines of the Performance test standard for K-EMU according to the corresponding FE simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various studies have pointed out that a successful integration of public transport and land use requires plans covering the entire metropolitan region that are consistent over a long period of time. The proposition that is explored in this article is that railway corridors can offer an effective spatial and institutional focus for this. For this purpose, a real-world case in Tokyo, where a corridor-based approach is central to the coordination of public transport and land-use developments, was examined. The analysis combines and links spatial and institutional dimensions. Three criteria are employed in the spatial analysis: corridor transport characteristics, land-use densities, and land-use mix. On the institutional side, the role the local government and the private railway sector play in developing railway corridors in Tokyo is discussed. The exploration seems to support the proposition that the railway corridor can be a convenient spatial and institutional unit in which to integrate transport and land-use developments. However, translation to other metropolitan areas of elements of the Tokyo approach would have to adequately acknowledge contextual differences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aiming at the time-dependent characteristic of the highway network, effective emergency vehicle routing plan is a great significance to emergency rescue. In this paper, a novel particle swarm optimization algorithm is proposed to solve the time-dependent (dynamic) shortest path problem. The algorithm uses a way of adjacency matrix search to generate particle swarm satisfying constrains of the problem during the whole calculation, and puts forward a kind of update rule using the path of the optimal individual as the guidance information to ensure that the vehicle enters a shorter road section at the earlier time. The results of illuminate examples show that the algorithm can quickly and efficiently search the shortest path of emergency vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arrival time forecasts can provide lots of help in improving the image of city. The public resident's satisfaction with public transport system, and reduce the number of private cars. In the past, bus forecasts were based on a single static or dynamic prediction algorithm didn't have real-time or stability. In this paper, Support Vector Machine algorithm (SVM) are used to predict the results through historical data, and then use Kalman filter (KF) algorithm to predict the results of dynamic correction, while combine static and dynamic algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One possible solution to increase passenger participation in the public transit service and relieve traffic congestion is to implement the fare elimination policy, but transportation divisions are still hesitant to attempt on it for its actual effect on the urban transportation systems. This paper introduces a recent system-wide fare-free policy demonstration in Gaoping city of China, a small-size developing city with high residential density. Two contrastive investigations to disclose the impacts of the fare-free strategy on the transportation system and residents have been completed. A sharp increase of 320% in passenger demand in the public transit system was observed after the initiation of the new policy, far beyond the performance of previous demonstrations. The results indicate that the fare elimination policy had a limited influence on decreasing the vehicle volume on the roads, but it indeed worked well in preventing the further deterioration of traffic congestion. Empirical evidence simply that this demonstration can be an encouraging experience and the fare-free policy could be an effective solution for developing countries with high residential density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An in-depth research is made on the relevant departments of the typical large urban rail transit, and then the safety elements are analyzed which impact the urban rail transit operation. On the basis of constructing the safety evaluation index system of urban rail transit station operation, in the view of the nonlinear dynamic relationship between safety indexes and evaluation value, the WNN safety assessment model of urban rail transit operation is presented: the AS-OWA aggregation operator method is introduced to data dimension reduction so as to simplify the structure of the wavelet neural network; the adjustment algorithms based on hidden layer nodes is used to determine the number of wavelet basis in order to reduce the wavelet neurons of the redundancy of information and improve the convergence speed. Taking Beijing rail transit typical station operation as the object, based on MATLAB platform, the WNN safety assessment simulation model of urban rail transit operation are built to assess the station operation. The results show that the WNN is an effective method in the training accuracy and iterations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality has a fundamental influence to the services in passenger transport. The main objective of transport is to satisfy customers’ (passengers’) requirements on the qualitative, flexible, fast and safe carriage of people and goods. Organisers of transport (public authority), providers of transport services and their customers have a different view on the perception of quality. This fact is influenced by unsystematic assessment to the quality measurement as well as by ignorance of the interaction of the transportation the peoples with the transport system. The paper is focussed on the quality evaluation of performance in regional passenger rail transport in relation to other modes of public transport. Hereby it is necessary to research the perception of quality services as well its value for the client (passenger) as well to on scientific approach. In this point of the technological process of transport, the main bearer of the quality of transport services are the vehicles and the transport infrastructure. Consequently it is needed to set a permanent process of quality evaluation of the provided transport services. The paper is based on the premise that the customer interests present the public ordering body (authority) of the public transportation services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper models a proposed system that has the potential to transport baggage. It makes use of a modal choice model to examine how effective the system would be if implemented. The introduction of a baggage collection system would increase the number of passengers using public transport which would be good for the environment. The specific location of the study was Tyne and Wear and a journey from North Shields to Newcastle International Airport was chosen for the analysis. With the introduction of a new utility equation that could analyse mixed-mode travel, a baggage collection hub based in Newcastle upon Tyne city centre offered a significant number of users provided that the cost of the system was either covered in the travel ticket or provided by the airport or airline free of charge. This dedicated baggage collection system would be very expensive to introduce due to the massive amounts of work that would be required to set up the system, however, its ridership would be large therefore it could potentially recoup the development costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SmartMove project is working to advance innovative marketing and mobility solutions in eight rural and peripheral European regions and is co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme of the European Union. Through tailor-made strategies, it aims to provide information and encourage people to use public transport in their region. Sparsely populated rural areas in Europe are facing tremendous social changes due to shrinking and ageing populations. Because of the scattered settlement structure in these areas, the public transport network density is low and service frequency is often poor. The problems are exacerbated by increasing private car use, which, in a vicious circle, leads to further reductions in services. However, simple tools such as dialogue marketing and minor adjustments to scheduling can help change people’s perceptions. Dialogue marketing techniques have already been shown to increase passenger numbers by as much as 10 to 15 percent. Greater demand leads to higher revenues, making it possible to improve the system and attract even more passengers, turning the vicious circle into a positive loop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the effect of moral norm on public transport passengers’ behavioral intention in Bogor, Indonesia. This research is important because there is lack of research on the topic. The research used quantitative research methodology. Survey with questionnaire was performed in order to gather the research data. The respondents of the survey are 277 public transport passengers in Bogor, Indonesia. The research results show that moral norm influences public transport passengers’ behavioral intention positively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport infrastructures, including high-speed rail networks, are built to make efficient transport services possible. An analysis of the characteristics of the networks and sections they comprise can support design decisions and contribute to increase the efficiency of transport services. This paper is devoted to analysis of the structure and topology of three representative high-speed rail networks, in Japan, France and Spain. The Japanese network presents a mixed lineal and branching structure, while the French and Spanish networks are clearly branching. The efficiency and ratios of development of the systems are estimated. Two types of sections can be differentiated in branching railway networks - those located in the centre, denoted as backbone sections, and their ramifications at the periphery. The operating models and line equipment used on these two types of sections should not be the same as their roles are different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing fuel prices and the pressure towards greener modes of transportation, ridesharing has emerged as an alternative to private car ownership and public transportation. In this paper, we focus on a common destination ridesharing system which is of interest in large organizations such as companies and government offices. Particularly, such organizations are looking at using company owned vehicles to offer a ridesharing service by which employees carpool to work thus leading to several benefits that include decreasing pressure on on-campus parking spaces, lowering localized on-campus congestion, in addition to offering a greener transportation mode while lowering transportation costs for employees. Based on discussions with our industry partners, optimizing the distribution of limited number of company vehicles while insuring robustness against unlikely vehicle unavailability is of critical importance. Thus in this paper, we present a stochastic mixed integer programming model to optimize the allocation of shared vehicles to employees while taking into account the unforeseen event of vehicle unavailability which would require some participants to take own vehicles or rerouting of existing vehicles. Since solving the proposed model to optimality is computationally challenging for problems of large sizes, we also propose a heuristic that is capable of finding good quality solutions in limited computational time. The proposed model and heuristic are tested on several instances of varying sizes showing the computational performance. Finally, a test case based on the city of Rome, Italy is presented and insights related to vehicle distribution and travel time savings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although transport has resulted in many beneficial effects on society, but their development in fact have negative impacts on the environment. The car policy caused many problems such as: - the spectacular growth of fuel consumption hence the very vast increase in urban pollution, traffic congestion in certain places and at certain times, the increase in the number of accidents. The exhaust emissions from cars and weather conditions are the main factors that determine the level of pollution in urban atmosphere. These conditions lead to the phenomenon of heat transfer and radiation occurring between the air and the soil surface. These exchanges give rise, in urban areas, to the effects of heat islands that correspond to the appearance of excess air temperature between the city and its surrounding space. We perform a numerical simulation of the plume generated by the exhaust gases of cars and show that these gases form a screening effect above the urban cite which cause the heat island in the presence of wind flow. The study allows us: i- to understand the different mechanisms of interactions between these phenomenons, ii- to consider appropriate technical solutions to mitigate the effects of the heat island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors present the methodology adopted and the results obtained in the first stage of the research encompassing focus group interviews (FGI) about the needs of public transport users in a selected city (Poznan). The elicitation and assessment of the requirements were carried out for three groups of people with disabilities using public transport in the city of Poznań: blind and partially sighted people, deaf and hearing-impaired people, as well as people with locomotor dysfunctions. A study carried out on the basis of a scenario especially designed for the FGI purpose has made it possible to identify barriers for people with disabilities and, consequently, to formulate their pre-trip, on-trip and post-trip requirements when it comes to urban public transport services. The results will be used to construct a questionnaire to be used further on in the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a challenge to find the appropriate level of spatial resolution in transport modelling. While the zone system has substantial influence on model results, the resolution and design of zones is rarely analyzed systematically, and even less commonly adjusted to a specific modelling need. In this paper we present a new methodology to automatically create a new zone system based on the quadtree algorithm specific to transport modelling. Gradual raster cells are generated, where smaller raster cells tend to be used in urban areas and larger raster cells dominate in low-density, rural areas. As changing the zonal resolution affects the number of intrazonal and interzonal trips, an algorithm has been developed that adjusts intrazonal trips in line with the network resolution. Trip tables of a travel demand model for the state of Georgia, USA were disaggregated using this new zone system of gradual raster cells. The traffic assignment results validate significantly better than when using the original zone system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of literature in the field of quality of service in the public transport (PT) sector shows increasing concern for a better understanding of the factors affecting service quality (SQ) in PT organizations and companies. A large variety of approaches to SQ have been developed in recent years owing to the complexity of the concept; the broad range of attributes required to evaluate SQ; and the imprecision, subjectivity, and heterogeneous nature of the data used to analyze it. Most of these approaches are based on customer satisfaction surveys. This paper seeks to summarize the evolution of research and current thinking as it relates to the different methodological approaches for SQ evaluation in the PT sector over the years and to provide a discussion of future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the hub line location problem in which the location of a set of hub facilities connected by means of a path (or line) is considered. Potential applications arise in the design of public transportation and rapid transit systems, where network design costs greatly dominate routing costs and thus full interconnection of hub facilities is unrealistic. Given that service time is the predominant objective in these applications, the problem considers the minimization of the total weighted travel time between origin/destination nodes while taking into account the time spent to access and exit the hub line. An exact algorithm based on a Benders decomposition of a strong path-based formulation is proposed. The standard decomposition method is enhanced through the incorporation of several features such as a multicut strategy, an efficient algorithm to solve the subproblem and to obtain stronger optimality cuts, and a Benders branch-and-cut scheme that requires the solution of only one master problem. Computational results obtained on benchmark instances with up to 100 nodes confirm the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, which is considerably faster and able to solve larger instances than a general purpose solver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the problem of computing all Pareto-optimal journeys in a dynamic public transit network for multiple criteria, such as arrival time and number of transfers. Existing algorithms consider this as a graph problem and solve it using various graph search algorithms. Unfortunately, this leads to either high query times or suboptimal solutions. We take a different approach. We introduce RAPTOR, our novel round-based public transit router. Unlike previous algorithms, it is not Dijkstra-based, looks at each route (such as a bus line) in the network at most once per round, and can be made even faster with simple pruning rules and parallelization using multiple cores. Because it does not rely on preprocessing, RAPTOR works in fully dynamic scenarios. Starting from arrival time and number of transfers as criteria, it can be easily extended to handle flexible departure times or arbitrary additional criteria. As practical examples we consider fare zones and reliability of transfers. When run on complex public transportation networks (such as London), RAPTOR computes all Pareto-optimal journeys between two random locations an order of magnitude faster than previous approaches, which easily enables interactive applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality of service should not be overlooked in public transport planning and policy making, as it influences modal shift from car use to more sustainable means. Little research has been conducted on the quality of public transport interchanges from the perspective of current travellers (i.e. perceived quality). This work thus aimed to identify key quality factors at urban interchanges through an exploratory approach (multiple correspondence analysis) that provides novel elements for further investigation. The methodology was applied at interchanges in Madrid and Gothenburg and the data used in the analysis were collected through customer satisfaction surveys conducted in 2011. The analysis identified five key quality factors per interchange. Ticketing plays a key role at both interchanges while physical and environmental issues emerged at Avenida de América in Madrid, and services, temporal issues and interconnectivity characterise Gothenburg central station. Compared with other quality aspects, classical issues such as safety/security and information are not perceived as important by intermodal travellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing urbanisation around the world has raised the passenger demand for public transport. Many public transport technologies are available to meet this demand. This paper develops a spreadsheet cost model that simulates public transport modes operated on a 12-km route and incorporates a new public transport mode, the straddle bus. Previous research has assumed that demand is exogenous (externally fixed). This work investigates the impact of endogenous demand, which varies with service level characteristics. Elasticities for passenger waiting time and in-vehicle time are used to assess actual passenger reactions to the attractiveness for different public transport technologies at different levels of demand. The result of this work shows the lowest average social and operator cost public transport technologies for different ranges of demand. Based on the default values used in the spreadsheet model, smaller size vehicles (e.g. personal rapid transit and minibus) dominate the low passenger demand range due to their short waiting times. Single-decker and double-decker buses appear to be the best option for a demand of around 3000-60 000 passengers per day (ppd), followed by the straddle bus (from around 60 000 to 100 000 ppd). The great capacity but high capital costs of underground make it the most cost-effective technology when other technologies are experiencing high congestion, with demand levels higher than 100 000 ppd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important quality indicators of public transportation is punctuality. Deviations from schedule reduce the level of service. Analyzing historical data, exploring and categorizing the causes of delays correlations can be determined. Based on them, the schedule deviations are predictable. In our research the schedule deviations on railway stations have been investigated based on the manually registered information of the Hungarian Railways. The study mainly focused on the delay causes that were generated by random external factors. Particularly, effects of the certain weather conditions have been highlighted. The analysis has been conducted on railway lines with different infrastructure. Contexts based on the results of the research can be built into traffic prediction models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to 2007, two systems of bus driver compensation coexisted in Santiago, Chile: one paid drivers per passenger transported, while the other paid a fixed wage. Per-passenger drivers engaged in 'The War for the Fare,' altering their driving patterns to compete for passengers. Examining these systems on similar routes in Santiago, we observed two key findings. Compared with the fixed-wage system, the per-passenger system leads to (1) 13% shorter passenger wait times, via reduced bunching of buses and (2) 67% more accidents per kilometer driven, via more aggressive driving. We discuss implications for the design of incentives in public transit. ( JEL L92, M52, R41) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brazilian city of Curitiba has long been recognised as an exemplary success in urban planning, particularly its sustainable urban transport, with modal splits strongly favouring public transit. Its success was achieved principally through rigorous and detailed planning, beginning in the 1970s, using policy tools that have been described, and sometimes criticised, as technocratic. After 40 years of a quite successful experience in transport planning and implementation, Curitiba, like many world cities, faces new challenges, particularly in the form of metropolitanisation and increased aspirations for citizen participation. In this paper we investigate which policy tools are being used to face these emerging challenges in Curitiba, whether they are the same as those used in the past and which led the city to be a recognised urban transport success case, or different, more flexible and participative tools presumed to be more in tune with the emerging context of metropolitanisation and increased demands for participation. The answer, coming from interviews within Curitiba transport representatives, current literature review and limited comparisons with other successful transport cities of the Americas, suggests a continuation of Curitiba’s proactive format, one which has led to its past successes, with some modest overtures to more interactive and participatory policy tools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Public transportation is one of the most essential services in urban areas. The average passenger waiting time at a stop is an important criterion in evaluating the quality of public transportation systems. Accurate measurement of the average waiting time (AWT) at stops leads to more appropriate and timely schedules. Researchers in the past developed formulations for measuring the AWT at stops based on the assumptions that passengers arrive at stops in a uniform manner and buses arrive at stops independently. Studies on transportation systems in different cities indicate that using these formulations does not result in an accurate measure of the AWT and that there is a significant difference between the observed AWT and the one estimated by these formulations. Researchers related the cause of this discrepancy to the violation of the assumptions of uniform passenger arrival times and independent headways. We show that when the number of buses is not large (even when these assumptions hold true) the existing formulations still lack adequate accuracy. In this paper, we examine the process of formula development that resulted in a formulation that overestimates the AWT; we then propose accurate formulas for estimating the AWT with dependent and independent headways. A discrete simulation model has also been developed to further verify the inaccuracy of the existing formulations and to evaluate the performance of the proposed formulations. Furthermore, as a case study, the AWT at a bus stop in the Tehran bus transportation system has been studied and the accuracy of the proposed formulations has been examined and compared with that of the existing one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we introduce the dial-a-ride problem with split requests and profits (DARPSRP). Users place transportation requests, specifying a pickup location, a delivery location, and a time window for either of the two. Based on maximum user ride time considerations, the second time window is generated. A given fleet of vehicles, each with a certain capacity, is available to serve these requests, and maximum route duration constraints have to be respected. Each request is associated with a revenue and the objective is to maximize the total profit, that is, the total revenue minus the total costs. Transportation requests involving several persons may be split if it is beneficial to do so. We formulate the DARPSRP as a mixed-integer program using position variables and in terms of a path-based formulation. For the solution of the latter, we design a branch-and-price algorithm. The largest instance solved to optimality, when applied to available instances from the literature, has 40 requests; when applied to newly generated instances, the largest instance solved to optimality consists of 24 requests. To solve larger instances a variable neighborhood search algorithm is developed. We investigate the impact of request splitting under different geographical settings, assuming favorable settings for request splitting in terms of the number of people per request. The largest benefits from request splitting are obtained for problem settings exhibiting clustered customer locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]