Service Area Delimitation of Regional Highway Passenger Transport Hub Using Random-Utility-Based Weighted Voronoi Diagram

Abstract

This study introduces random utility theory to ordinary weighted Voronoi diagram and describes its application in delimiting the services area of a regional highway passenger transport hub. The Euclidean distance was replaced by a utility function of hub’s capacity factor, travel distance, travel time, and monetary travel cost from passenger’s initial origin to the alternative hubs. The service area was delimited based on utility maximization principle and a nested-logit model for transport hub and travel mode. The application shows that the service area of a hub is not consistent with its administrative boundary. It proves Voronoi diagram is a reasonable and practical tool for detecting the service boundary of a hub by offering an integrated angle to recognize the interacting relationship between hub location, transport network, and passenger’s choice behaviors.