A decision support system to improve service quality in multimodal rapid rail systems: A bayesian perspective

Copyright @ 2011 International Conference on Computers and Industrial EngineeringIn this study, the accessibility of the rail transit stations in a multimodal network formed by a trunk line and its feeder lines are defined. Connectivity between lines and the accessibility of the nodes identify the overall spatial structure of the network. The factors influencing the access choices of rail transit stations and satisfaction of transit travelers in rapid rail transit systems are investigated in order to gain insights into the factors and their interrelationships. The quantitative indications of the relationships are produced and the complexity of evaluating the performance of transit services is exhibited. As the interrelationships are mainly stochastic, the problem on hand is treated as a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN). A BBN approach that presents a learning mechanism is employed and is used as an alternative decision making tool to analyze the rapid rail transit services and identify policies to improve the traveler’s level of service

Traveler satisfaction in rapid rail systems: the case of Istanbul Metro

Multi-faceted characteristics of urban travel have an impact on the passengers' overall satisfaction with the transport system. In this study, we investigate the interrelationships among traveler satisfaction, travel and traveler characteristics, and service performance in a multimodal network that comprises of a trunk line and its feeder lines. We analyze the factors influencing the choices of access to rail transit stations and the satisfaction of transit travelers with the rapid rail transit systems. We quantitatively study these relationships and demonstrate the complexity of evaluating transit service performance. Since the interrelationships among variables affecting this system are mainly stochastic, we analyze the satisfaction with transit system problem using a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN), which helps capture the causality among variables with inherent uncertainty. Using the case of Istanbul, we employ the BBN as a decision support tool for policy makers to analyze the rapid rail transit services and determine policies for improving the quality and the level of service to increase the satisfaction with transit system. In the case study, satisfaction with accessibility and access mode variables are found to be more effective variables than total travel time for travel time satisfaction, confirming the significant role of access in multimodal travels

How Rail Transit Makes a Difference in People’s Multimodal Travel Behaviours: An Analysis with the XGBoost Method

The rail transit system was developed in Chinese large cities to achieve more efficient and sustainable transport development. However, the extent to which the newly built rail transit system can facilitate people’s multimodality still lacks evidence, and limited research examines the interrelationship between trip stages within a single trip. This study aims to explore the interrelations between trip stage characteristics, socio-demographic attributes, and the built environment. It examines how rail transit is integrated as part of multimodal trips after it is introduced. The data are extracted from the Chongqing Urban Resident Travel Survey from 2014, three years after the new rail transit network was established. It applies an XGBoost model to examine the non-linear effect. As a result, the separate trip stage characteristics have more of an impact than the general trip characteristics. The non-linear effects revealed by the machine learning model show changing effects and thresholds of impact by trip stage characteristics on people’s main mode choice of rail transit. An optimal radius of facility distribution along the transit lines is suggested accordingly. Synergistic effects between variables are identified, including by groups of people and land use characteristics

Master of Science

thesisThe First Mile Last Mile (FMLM) challenge garners significant attention as a means to assess the accessibility of the first leg to public transit and the last leg from transit. As a critical barrier to public transit accessibility, the challenge provides many opportunities to closely analyze conditions from the level of the transit station upwards to the level of the system-wide network. Its usefulness in contributing to the body of knowledge on barriers to transit access provides planners and researchers important information with implications towards increasing ridership, transit efficiency, multimodal travel options, and mobility. Salt Lake City area is experiencing a rapid growth in transit infrastructure. The ambitious program of transit construction spans across light rail, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), streetcars and commuter rail simultaneously. This transit expansion program, led by Utah Transit Authority (UTA), strives to provide a multimodal system that can meet the daily transportation needs of the residents. FMLM strategy evaluations find strategy appropriateness and relevancy in many different contexts, but may still retain unique challenges imposed by such things as weather conditions, population characteristics, and cultural norms. This study proposes a methodological framework for analyzing the FMLM problems in the State of Utah. It utilizes microscopic and macroscopic data collection and analysis techniques, as well as network modeling, in an effort to quantify and understand the FMLM challenges facing each fixed transit station. The research aims to construct a set of station categories based on access mode characteristics investigated via discrete choice modeling and accessibility analysis to facilitate planning and to accommodate characteristics of potential and existing riders at rail stations in the UTA network

Benefit-Cost Analysis for Transportation Planning and Public Policy: Towards Multimodal Demand Modeling

This report examines existing methods of benefit-cost analysis (BCA) in two areas, transportation policy and transportation planning, and suggests ways of modifying these methods to account for travel within a multimodal system. Although the planning and policy contexts differ substantially, this report shows how important multimodal impacts can be incorporated into both by using basic econometric techniques and even simpler rule-of-thumb methods. Case studies in transportation planning focus on the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), but benchmark California’s competencies by exploring methods used by other states and local governments. The report concludes with a list and discussion of recommendations for improving transportation planning models and methods. These will have immediate use to decision makers at Caltrans and other state DOTs as they consider directions for developing new planning capabilities. This project also identifies areas, and lays groundwork, for future research. Finally, by fitting the planning models into the broader context of transportation policy, this report will serve as a resource for students and others who wish to better understand BCA and its use in practice

Promoting Intermodal Connectivity at California’s High Speed Rail Stations

High-speed rail (HSR) has emerged as one of the most revolutionary and transformative transportation technologies, having a profound impact on urban-regional accessibility and inter-city travel across Europe, Japan, and more recently China and other Asian countries. One of HSR’s biggest advantages over air travel is that it offers passengers a one-seat ride into the center of major cities, eliminating time-consuming airport transfers and wait times, and providing ample opportunities for intermodal transfers at these locales. Thus, HSR passengers are typically able to arrive at stations that are only a short walk away from central business districts and major tourist attractions, without experiencing any of the stress that car drivers often experience in negotiating such highly congested environments. Such an approach requires a high level of coordination and planning of the infrastructural and spatial aspects of the HSR service, and a high degree of intermodal connectivity. But what key elements can help the US high-speed rail system blend successfully with other existing rail and transit services? That question is critically important now that high-speed rail is under construction in California. The study seeks to understand the requirements for high levels of connectivity and spatial and operational integration of HSR stations and offer recommendations for seamless, and convenient integrated service in California intercity rail/HSR stations. The study draws data from a review of the literature on the connectivity, intermodality, and spatial and operational integration of transit systems; a survey of 26 high-speed rail experts from six different European countries; and an in-depth look of the German and Spanish HSR systems and some of their stations, which are deemed as exemplary models of station connectivity. The study offers recommendations on how to enhance both the spatial and the operational connectivity of high-speed rail systems giving emphasis on four spatial zones: the station, the station neighborhood, the municipality at large, and the region

Understanding Transit Ridership Demand for a Multi-Destination, Multimodal Transit Network in an American Metropolitan Area, Research Report 11-06

This study examines the factors underlying transit demand in the multi-destination, integrated bus and rail transit network for Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta provides an opportunity to explore the consequences of a multi-destination transit network for bus patrons (largely transit-dependent riders) and rail patrons (who disproportionately illustrate choice rider characteristics). Using data obtained from the 2000 Census, coupled with data obtained from local and regional organizations in the Atlanta metropolitan area, we estimate several statistical models that explain the pattern of transit commute trips across the Atlanta metropolitan area. The models show that bus riders and rail riders are different, with bus riders exhibiting more transit-dependent characteristics and rail riders more choice rider characteristics. However, both types of riders value many of the same attributes of transit service quality (including shorter access and egress times and more direct trips) and their use of transit is influenced by many of the same variables (including population and employment). At the same time, the factors that influence transit demand vary depending on the type of travel destination the rider wishes to reach, including whether it is the central business district (CBD) or a more auto-oriented, suburban destination. The results of the study offer new insights into the nature of transit demand in a multi-destination transit system and provide lessons for agencies seeking to increase ridership among different ridership groups. The results suggest that more direct transit connections to dispersed employment centers, and easier transfers to access such destinations, will lead to higher levels of transit use for both transit-dependent and choice riders. The results also show that the CBD remains an important transit destination for rail riders but not for their bus rider counterparts. Certain types of transit-oriented development (TOD) also serve as significant producers and attractors of rail transit trips

Desire to change one's multimodality and its relationship to the use of different transport means

Using data collected from French employees of a transportation institute and residents of the US San Francisco Bay Area, we operationalize a segmentation of mobility patterns based on objective, subjective, and desired amounts of mobility by various modes and overall. We especially focus on the degree of multimodality in an individual's current modal mix and desired changes to that mix through the use of a "multimodality index". The clusters that result showed some similarities and some differences across countries, where the latter are likely due to disparities in the sampling strategies and in the land use/transportation/cultural milieux. In both cases, however, the clusters have useful policy implications, enabling us, for example, to distinguish car users who might be inclined to reduce car use and increase transit use from those who are largely content with their current modal basket

Revisiting Factors Associated with the Success of Ballot Initiatives with a Substantial Rail Transit Component, Research Report 10-13

This report presents the replication of an MTI study conducted in 2001 by Peter Haas and Richard Werbel. That research, itself a continuation of an earlier project completed in 2000, included an analysis of transportation tax elections in 11 urban areas across the nation and culminated in the identification of 17 community-level factors with potential impact on the success of ballot measures for sales tax increases to fund transportation packages with substantial rail components. Trends observed in these more recent case studies were generally highly consistent with the following findings from the 2001 study. Thus this analysis reaffirms the importance for community consensus amongst the business, elected and environmental communities, and accompanying depth of financial support. Once again, the difficulty of passing an initiative without well-funded, effective use of multimedia was validated, as was the importance of utilizing experienced campaign consultants. Some factors seemed less important in the current study than in 2001, including the effectiveness of presenting a multimodal package, the perception of benefits of a package being distributed throughout the voting district, the experience gained in recent transit elections, and the credibility of the transit agency. Finally, this compilation includes an exploration of “rebound” elections – those instances in which a failed measure is quickly followed by a successful one – and the factors that seem linked to achieving success in such instances

Capital Ideas - Winning State Funding for Transportation: Lessons from Recent Successes

In 2015, Congress will once again debate transportation funding at the federal level. It would be in the best interests of the nation for them to fix the perpetual shortfalls in the Highway Trust Fund and set the country on a path toward a 21st century infrastructure. It is important to note that all of the states that have acted thus far, and those working to do so this year or beyond, are doing so in expectation of ongoing federal support. Governors and legislators have acted because states face growing needs and static or falling revenues. The situation has been made worse by federal funding that has remained flat as costs have risen, and could grow disastrously worse should Congress reduce federal support in the upcoming renewal of the national program. Regardless of what happens in Washington, states know that Congress will never appropriate enough support to close the gap needed to address maintenance backlogs and build for the future. Governors and legislators recognize that they can be leaders on this issue, working across party lines, generating new funding mechanisms, and creating new coalitions in support of transportation investment. The strategies and examples discussed in this report are intended to be a helpful guide for those emerging leaders as they navigate the unique context of their own individual states to pass transportation revenue legislation, and in turn, set an example for others to follow in the future