The principles of public transport network planning: a review of the emerging literature with select examples

This paper highlights for urban planners the key strategies and tactics that can be deployed to improve suburban public transport networks. Introduction The governance and management of public transport systems is an essential component of metropolitan planning and urban management. Most metropolitan strategies in Australia and in other jurisdictions presuppose the provision of public transport. Yet there is often a disconnection between transport plans and land-use schemes. Similarly, metropolitan land-use plans that do integrate with transport plans tend to focus on infrastructure rather than service quality and connectivity. A failure to adequately consider the quality of public transport networks in land-use planning analysis has the potential to produce poor planning outcomes in two key ways. First new land-uses may be inadequately served with public transport services, leading to dependence on alternative travel modes, such as cars. Second, the failure to recognise the significance of well-planned local public transport networks may result in the preclusion of some land-use options. This preclusion may relate to the location of land-uses or their design, such as over-provision of carparking. The continuing debate over whether to address suburban cardependence via land-use change or via transport planning is a case in point. And while the arguments in favour of and against land-use change as a means to overcome car dependence are well known in the planning literature. There is a growing if not yet widely appreciated literature that advocates improvements to public transport network planning and coordination as a means of reducing car dependence. The recognition of improved public transport network planning as a means of reducing car dependence is immensely significant because it offers planners an additional or alternative tool for managing urban transport patterns beyond land-use variation or investment in heavy infrastructure. Urban planning practitioners are not yet well served and informed by the broader public transport planning literature on the advantages of public transport network planning. While there is an extensive literature focusing on the economics and engineering of urban public transport systems the planning literature on the practices that contribute to success in public transport network design and operations is relatively poorly documented. There is also very little literature dedicated to public transport network design within Australian cities which are distinguished by highly centralised radial heavy rail networks with bus or tram networks that are well developed in inner urban zones but less so in the outer suburbs. The remainder of this paper has four objectives for transport planning theory and practice. First the paper reviews the literature on public transport network planning principles; next the paper attempts to formulate these principles in practical terms such that they can be applied to line and network design; third the paper considers further dimensions of network planning, including institutional arrangements and transition points in network design. The paper is intended for three audiences. The first is planning scholars who are involved in debates about public transport. The second is strategic policy officials in planning agencies who are involved in the planning and design of public transport networks. The third audience comprises those involved in development processes and who seek insights into the technical components of public transport network planning. Some caveats are appropriate however. The paper is not seeking to justify public transport network planning. The authors consider that the case for dedicated planning is implicit in the assumption that cities should provide good quality public transport to their residents. The wider case in favour of network planning has been successfully advanced elsewhere. Conversely, the paper is not intended as a directly applicable manual of detailed transport planning practice. While it does offer some insights into the practical public transport network planning task such guidance is better provided by Nielsen et al and Vuchic. Instead the paper highlights for urban planners the key strategies and tactics for that can be deployed to improve suburban public transport networks. Understanding these principles should thus assist urban planners – and urban scholars – to better shape and evaluate urban development processes and patterns

Dynamics and Processes in Operations Control Centers in Urban Public Transport: Potentials for Improvement

Disruptions in public transport operations occur every day. Thus, providing a reliable system is a challenge for operations and planning. This paper gives insights into the dynamics and processes of operations control centers in public transport to reveal potentials for further improvement in reliability. Therefore, directors were interviewed, dispatchers observed, and operations documentation was studied. It has become obvious that the process of dispatching has four different types of call signals (assault, accident, missing replacement, and wish-to-talk) corresponding to different kinds of incidents. The drivers use those call signals to contact the operations control center and initialize different procedures of communication between the dispatchers, drivers, and other involved parties. As the communication is mostly conducted via phone or radio, several improvements are possible, such as training in communications and increased use of information technology in operations. In planning tools, the handling of incidents is marginally supported. As all kinds of incidents can affect the service, they should be represented in planning tools to design more reliable public transport systems. However, they do not need to be represented in full detail. Verbal communication could mostly be reduced to single decisions. Accidents, for example, influence the operation by delayed vehicles and blocked ways. The findings of this work allow a better understanding of operations control centers and reveal their potentials for improvement

Analysing improvements to on-street public transport systems: a mesoscopic model approach

Light rail transit and bus rapid transit have shown to be efficient and cost-effective in improving public transport systems in cities around the world. As these systems comprise various elements, which can be tailored to any given setting, e.g. pre-board fare-collection, holding strategies and other advanced public transport systems (APTS), the attractiveness of such systems depends heavily on their implementation. In the early planning stage it is advantageous to deploy simple and transparent models to evaluate possible ways of implementation. For this purpose, the present study develops a mesoscopic model which makes it possible to evaluate public transport operations in details, including dwell times, intelligent traffic signal timings and holding strategies while modelling impacts from other traffic using statistical distributional data thereby ensuring simplicity in use and fast computational times. This makes it appropriate for analysing the impacts of improvements to public transport operations, individually or in combination, in early planning stages. The paper presents a joint measure of reliability for such evaluations based on passengers’ perceived travel time by considering headway time regularity and running time variability, i.e. taking into account waiting time and in-vehicle time. The approach was applied on a case study by assessing the effects of implementing segregated infrastructure and APTS elements, individually and in combination. The results showed that the reliability of on-street public transport operations mainly depends on APTS elements, and especially holding strategies, whereas pure infrastructure improvements induced travel time reductions. The results further suggested that synergy effects can be obtained by planning on-street public transport coherently in terms of reduced travel times and increased reliability

Operations research in disaster preparedness and response: The public health perspective

Operations research is the scientific study of operations for the purpose of better decision making and management. Disasters are defined as events whose consequences exceed the capability of civil protection and public health systems to provide necessary responses in a timely manner. Public health science is applied to the design of operations of public health services and therefore operations research principles and techniques can be applied in public health. Disaster response quantitative methods such as operations research addressing public health are important tools for planning effective responses to disasters. Models address a variety of decision makers (e.g. first responders, public health officials), geographic settings, strategies modelled (e.g. dispensing, supply chain network design, prevention or mitigation of disaster effects, treatment) and outcomes evaluated (costs, morbidity, mortality, logistical outcomes) and use a range of modelling methodologies. Regarding natural disasters the modelling approaches have been rather limited. Response logistics related to public health impact of disasters have been modelled more intensively since decisions about procurement, transport, stockpiling, and maintenance of needed supplies but also mass vaccination, prophylaxis, and treatment are essential in the emergency management. Major issues at all levels of disaster response decision making, including long-range strategic planning, tactical response planning, and real-time operational support are still unresolved and operations research can provide useful techniques for decision management.-JRC.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen

Framework for integrated planning of bus and paratransit services in Indian cities

Public transport services in India and many other developing countries are provided by a combination of formal-Government led public transport systems and informal paratransit or Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) systems, which offer shuttle services along high demand corridors with passengers boarding and alighting at multiple points. Despite limited Government support, paratransit systems continue to thrive in many cities serving a crucial shared mobility need of users, without which cities would have more private vehicle usage. Due to their informal nature and the perceived competition to formal public transport systems, they have traditionally been either excluded from the public transport planning processes or designed as a feeder service to the formal transit system. The current thesis recognises paratransit’s role in serving end to end travel demand needs, particularly in developing economies with limited public transport supply and not just being a feeder to the formal public transport system. Hence, we develop an integrated planning framework that enables formal and informal public transport systems to operate as complementary systems towards meeting the mobility needs of the city. We proved an integrated planning framework based on comprehensive understanding of the demand and supply characteristics of both formal and informal systems which currently operate independently to realign services and complement each other. The tactical planning stage of public transport planning i.e. frequency setting was identified as the ideal stage of planning for integration of the two types of services. This will ensure continuity of their existing route networks and at the same time allow for paratransit services’ flexibility to switch operations between routes. Visakhapatnam, a representative medium sized Indian city with a significant presence of formal public transport in the form of city bus services and paratransit services provided by three-wheeler auto-rickshaws with a seating capacity of three to six passengers, was selected as the case city to demonstrate the methodology. A household survey based data collection and analysis methodology was adopted to analyse the socio-economic and travel demand characteristics of city bus and paratransit users. The variables impacting users’ choice between these two systems were derived through binary logistic regression. The high frequency and low occupancy paratransit systems were more popular among shorter trips, while longer trips preferred the fixed table bus systems. The operational characteristics of bus and paratransit systems were derived through a combination of primary surveys with paratransit operators and secondary data on the city bus operations. Data regarding their network of operation, services offered, passenger demand and revenue generated were collected for analysis. Buses perform a service function in the city by operating throughout the day and on a wider network, while paratransit operates with a profit motive only on high demand corridors and during peak hours. A Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) based methodology was adopted to compare the performance efficiency of the two systems using a set of input and output indicators that define the performance of the two systems. Paratransit operations were identified to be more efficient compared to buses, due to their demand responsive operations. The lower efficiency of buses was also due to their service obligation to the city to provide affordable services throughout the day, even in areas with low demand. A bi-level transit assignment and frequency optimisation framework is developed to integrate formal bus and paratransit services. The lower-level of the model solves for the multi- modal transit assignment problem while the upper level solves for the integrated frequency optimisation problem. The transit assignment problem was solved from the users perspective i.e. to minimise their travel time through the user-equilibrium method. The frequency optimisation problem was solved using an integer programming formulation with the objective of minimising operational cost of bus and paratransit systems while meeting constraints like the travel demand on any link. The outputs from the optimisation exercise were used to quantify the impact of the public transport system at various levels i.e. users total travel time spent in the system, operators cost of providing the services and the overall impact on the society by estimating its road space requirement and emissions. Alternative user demand and transit supply scenarios were tested to assess their impacts on the society. The results show significant operational cost benefits of an integrated transit assignment and frequency planning approach where paratransit provides demand responsive services for short distance trips while formal public transport provides fixed schedule services on with broader network coverage. The analysis established the complimentary role played by bus and paratransit systems in meeting users travel demands. Therefore, it is recommended that cities harness both the systems towards meeting increasing travel needs of developing economies. Formal transit will continue to be the core of the public transport system, providing fixed route services, while paratransit can augment its capacity on high demand corridors and during peak hours. The planning and frequency optimisation framework developed in this thesis can help cities in identifying the modal-mix of fixed route public transport and on-demand services

Identifying and Surpassing Contextual Barriers in Cross-Border Research Collaboration: The Case of the Sino-Swedish Project Shanghai Local Interaction Platform

The Swedish advanced knowledge in integrating within a vastly car-oriented transport system a new (or improved) breed of sustainable public transport operations, complemented by the Chinese ability to speedily support urban design innovation that could take even city-wide transportation systems to new heights, guarantees a contribution to mobility research of excellent scientific quality. Having in place a well-tested know-how mechanism to overcome cross-cultural differences between distant research philosophies is the most important hurdle in any scientific collaboration between those Sweden and China and could be vital for the success of the programme, despite the best of scientific intentions and planning. After almost two years from the initiation of Shanghai Local Interaction Platform, a consistent mechanism that will promote cross-border communication and the philosophy of shared responsibility is slowly but steadily taking its final form. This work is describing this process

Deployment of electric buses: Planning the fleet size and type, charging infrastructure and operations with an optimization-based model

The current awareness about climate change creates the urgency in adjusting the services provided in public transport towards more sustainable operations. Recent studies have shown that the integration of electric vehicles into existing fleets is an alternative that allows reducing CO2 emissions, thus contributing to a more sustainable provision of services in the sector. When the aim is to achieve a full electrification of a bus fleet, several decisions need to be planned, such as i) the number of buses that are required, ii) the types of batteries used in those vehicles, iii) the charging technologies and strategies, iv) the location of the charging stations, and v) the frequency of charging. Nevertheless, although several planning studies have focused on the full electrification of a bus fleet, no study was found considering all these planning decisions that are deemed as essential for an adequate planning. Our study thus contributes to this gap in the literature, by proposing an optimization-based planning model that considers all these planning dimensions in the decision-making process related to the integration of electric buses in a public bus transport system – the MILP4ElectFleet model. All these decisions are evaluated while ensuring the minimization of in-vestment and operating costs. The MILP4ElectFleet model is applied to the Car-ris case study, a Portuguese public transport operator in the metropolitan area of Lisbon.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The impact of rapid urban growth on the commuter rail sector : the case of Gauteng province

M.Ing. (Engineering Management)Commuter rail in South Africa faces many challenges as a result of a long history of inadequate investment in rail rolling stock, infrastructure, operations as well as the loss of appropriate managerial and technical (engineering) skills within the industry. Over time, commuter rail services have continued to fail to respond adequately to the changing passenger demands. On the other hand mobility has undergone constant change in terms of both population growth and spatial patterns. For an effective and viable country, the transport infrastructure and operations have to respond to this continual process of change. From the transport context, South Africa is still haunted by its poor transport legacies of the past, which emerged mainly as a result of dysfunctional institutions. The dysfunctional institutional arrangements have resulted in poor accountability in the provision of public transport services, which were found to be largely disempowering. Government‘s socio-economic and transport policies could not be supported adequately by such institutional arrangements. As South Africa embarks on a journey of turning its public transport system around, the challenges for public transport are to simultaneously transform through meaningful integration, whilst at the same time enhancing capacity through upgrading and modernization in order to meet long-term needs of the economy. This research focuses on the impacts of urbanization, commuter rail network and planning interventions aimed at an integrated public transport solution. Firstly, the research investigates the impact of urbanization in relation to public transport and in addressing the ongoing challenge of rapid growth and thereby perpetuating social, economic and spatial inequalities. Secondly, there is a disjuncture between legislation and implementation that the research investigates. Thirdly, the study investigates the connectedness of Gauteng in relation to economic opportunities, social facilities and amenities. It aims to explore the extent of integration of Gauteng institutionally, spatially and socio-economically. The study concludes that transportation is the single most important factor in shaping the economy. Transportation should therefore be highlighted in the spatial development planning framework and processes in Gauteng. The key in addressing the impact of urban rapid growth on commuter rail is managing land use and transport networks in such a way that the highest level of access to services and employment opportunities are maintained

Turning over a new franchise: assessing the current health of public transport management in Melbourne

Melbourne‟s unique franchise model for public transport management and service delivery, now a decade old, is a subject of international interest for practitioners and scholars of transport planning.In December 2009, two new franchisees, under reworked eight-year contract arrangements, took over the operation of Melbourne‟s train and tram systems ending the ten-year run of the two survivors of the first decade of public transport privatisation – Connex (Veolia) and the Transdev/Transfield consortium.Based on material from public documents and interviews with senior managers from the departing companies and the Victorian Department of Transport, this research uses the perspectives of the departing franchisees, with their previous intimate engagement and current detachment from on-going operational and institutional issues, to provide a unique insight into the dynamics of Melbourne‟s franchise system.The research explores the lessons of the first decade of privatisation of transit operations in Melbourne. It examines financial performance, the value to government of the franchises as a means to distance itself from public criticism over the operation of public transport, and the effectiveness of planning for current and future patronage growth