Public transport network model based on layer operations

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed amount of studies on characteristics of public transport network and passengers’ flows, however, most of them are discussed independently. An important criterion for evaluating public transport network is whether it could satisfy travel demand well. Therefore, in this paper, we study the interaction between public transport network and passengers’ flow. Firstly, a layered network model is constructed for depicting public transport network, passengers’ Origin–Destination (OD) flows and transfer flows. Based on that, we propose layer operations to analyze interaction between them and to evaluate suitability between traffic supply (physical infrastructure) and travel demand (passengers’ OD trips and transfers). The proposed model is validated against empirical data from Chengdu and Qingdao, two metropolis cities in China. Results reveal the two cities have significant difference in suitability between travel demand and traffic supply. Although in contrast with Chengdu, Qingdao with advantages on transporting passengers by more straight lines and non-walking transfers, the average transfer flows and OD flows on stations in Qingdao are much heavier. The study demonstrates the importance of layer operations on exploring the interaction study of public transport network and traffic dynamics.