Public Transport Operators Research Articles

Unsupervised Learning for Public Transport Delay Pattern Analysis

To analyze inherent and diverse patterns within line-based public transport daily delay occurrences, we introduce a data-driven exploratory analysis focused on the spatial-temporal distribution of these delays. Our approach relies on the utilization of the image pattern recognition technique and k-means clustering algorithm. We extract daily punctuality information from the automatic vehicle location data for a singular public transport route. This information is then translated into a visual representation through aggregated daily delay distribution profile images, offering insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of delays. The delay distribution finds expression in the arrangement of pixels within these profile images. The essence of these images is further distilled through image pattern recognition using the neural network architecture of ResNet50. Employing the k-means algorithm, we cluster these images based on their similarity, revealing five distinct daily delay patterns. The analysis of these patterns offers insight into their unique characteristics, yielding noteworthy outcomes. These findings hold the potential to provide public transport operators with an enriched comprehension of the dynamics of delays occurring on a specific line.

Моделирование объемов отправлений городского общественного транспорта

Organizing the effective operation of urban public transport and planning the development of transport infrastructure requires predicting the volume of passenger traffic. In particular, it needs to predict the volume of passenger departures from stopping points, which depends on a large number of different factors, such as the population density near the stopping point, the types of transport departing from it, the number of routes passing through it, etc. In this article, we propose modeling outgoing passenger traffic based on a regression approach. To test the approach and determine the most appropriate specifications for regression equations, data on passenger boarding volumes at bus stops in Ekaterinburg, as well as open data from the database of apartment buildings, were used.

Modelling bus-based substitution capabilities for metro systems using bipartite graphs

Abstract A disruption of metro services can have a negative impact in the performance of a city’s transportation system and hinder mobility needs of travellers. Investigating the vulnerability of metro systems is required for planning mitigation actions, such as bus substitution services. This study develops a model, which consists of a bipartite graph and its projection to represent the bus substitution capabilities for metro networks. The proposed methodology effectively identifies significant substitution elements (bus lines), evaluates the robustness of alternative options in terms of both connectedness and connectivity, and suggests effective strategies for enhancing bus line capacity to improve network robustness. By applying the methodology to a real-world metro network, valuable insights are gained regarding important bus lines and substitution robustness. Study findings suggest that approaches based on the weighted degree exhibit the greatest effectiveness when it comes to connectivity and the overall efficiency of the network. These findings can assist public transport operators in proactively managing disruptions and improving their services.

Study of time indicators of public transport operation depending on the season of the year

Mobility problems in large cities of Ukraine and Eastern Europe are complicated by the fact that the increase of private transport volume significantly exceeds street and road network`s capacity. This is most noticeable during peak periods in terms of daylight hours and throughout the year. From the point of sustainable mobility view, this negative phenomenon significantly affects urban public transport, which does not have separate dedicated traffic lines. This article analyzes the issue regarding the deterioration of the transport situation in large cities. The reason for this is the increase in traffic on main streets during the day peaks, as well as the presence of seasonal traffic factors. If the issue of the occurrence and traffic jams duration and the increase in the correspondence time of private transport is sufficiently studied, then the problems of changing the schedules of public transport and taking into account the increase in the trip duration depending on the time of year need to be clarified. The routes of public transport, which do not have a separate infrastructure and move in the general flow together with private cars, were chosen for the study. According to the results of remote monitoring of public transport, a change in the trip duration and time lost due to the boarding and disembarking of passengers on similar trolleybus routes in different seasons was established. Based on the obtained data, a matrix of trip duration unevenness coefficients for public transport routes was formed, and a measure of the seasonality effect on these indicators was established. The obtained results make it possible to quantitatively determine the influence of the season and time of the day on the change in the trip duration, which can be applied in further studies using simulation tools and for practical use in drawing up seasonal traffic schedules. The results of the research complement the currently relevant scientific works, which concern the problems of seasonal mobility, as well as the influence of the social infrastructure objects functioning (schools, kindergartens, and other educational institutions) of cities on the peak load of the street and road network, which extends the duration of traffic not only for private but also public transport.

Driving Behavior and Customer Handling of Urban Public Transportation Drivers and Operators Before and After the COVID-19 Outbreak in Ethiopia, 2022

Driving Behavior and Customer Handling of Urban Public Transportation Drivers and Operators Before and After the COVID-19 Outbreak in Ethiopia, 2022

State of the art of passenger redirection during incidents in public transport systems, considering capacity constraints

This paper gives a comprehensive insight into the investigations done in passenger redirection during incidents in public transport systems. In public transport operations, incidents such as traffic accidents, deployment of emergency forces, or technical failures happen every day and disrupt the service. Most of the investigations done in the field of incident management focus on the readjustment of the supply towards the incident situation and are therefore referred to as supply-centric part of incident management. However, especially in recent years, more and more investigations have also been done on the passenger-centric part of incident management. These rather focus on the effects of incidents on passengers or even include them in the solution of the incident situation, either by informing them adequately about the given situation (passive redirection) or by providing them with concrete path advice (active redirection). The results show that adequate passenger information during incidents can reduce the average delay of affected passengers and support the recovery of the public transport system. This improves the reliability of a public transport system and boosts its attractiveness.

EVALUASI KEBIJAKAN TENTANG PENYELENGGARAAN PERHUBUNGAN PADA PELAYANAN ANGKUTAN UMUM PENUMPANG DI KOTA CIMAHI

The policy regarding the implementation of transportation in Cimahi City does not specifically regulate passenger public transport services so that it is suspected to be the cause of the poor operation of passenger public transportation in Cimahi City. This study aims to analyze data and information so as to get an overview of policy evaluation regarding the implementation of transportation in Cimahi City with case studies on passenger public transport services. The method used is a case study with a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques used are observation, interviews and documentation studies. Checking the validity of the data is done by triangulation. Data analysis was carried out including the stages of data reduction, data presentation, and conclusions or verification. Based on the research results, a clearer picture is obtained that passenger public transport services in Cimahi City are measured by effectiveness factors based on quality, quantity and time, efficiency of available resources, adequacy of policies in overcoming problems, equity of services and policy benefits, government responsiveness to problems arising from the implementation of policies, and the accuracy of policy targets in achieving policy objectives has not run optimally. Observing the results of the research, it is hoped that policy makers in Cimahi City will be able to review regulations and reformulate more specific policies that specifically address passenger public transport services. In addition, it is recommended to develop a Smart Passenger Public Transport System based on information and communication technology which can be used as an alternative solution. Keywords: Policy Evaluation; Implementation of Transportation; Passenger Public Transport Services

Measuring route diversity in spatial and spatial-temporal public transport networks

Route diversity is a pivotal metric for evaluating the redundancy of transportation networks, a fundamental aspect of system resilience. This study provides a comprehensive exploration of route diversity in multimodal public transport systems, specifically considering the unique characteristics of bus networks. Our research introduces a two-pronged approach to measuring route diversity within spatial public transport networks, delving into service-based and infrastructure-based perspectives. The former assesses redundancy against transit service disruptions by factoring in transit line overlaps, while the latter evaluates redundancy against infrastructure-related interruptions by considering overlapping road segments on which transit lines rely. In addition, the study advances by modelling public transport systems as multilayer spatial-temporal networks, integrating time-variable service frequency and travel time uncertainty, which enables us to derive route diversity for origin-destination (O-D) pairs across different time periods.We present a case study of the multimodal public transport network in Jiading District, Shanghai, revealing a power-law distribution of the route diversity. The results unveil O-D pairs with lower route diversity, underscoring their lack of resilience against various disturbances. Lower service-based route diversity suggests the necessity of enhancing service frequency and bolstering cross-line combined transit scheduling, while lower infrastructure-based route diversity could warrant the design of road-diversified transit lines, especially within bus corridors. Besides, relative route diversity between the two indices highlights specific O-D pairs with notable disparities in service and infrastructure redundancy. This difference is correlated with the distance between O-D pairs and the road network's configuration. This analysis underscores the method's potential to offer more relevant insights to public transport planners and operators for adjusting transit lines and schedules through a resilience-focused lens.

Application of Management in Citys Public Transport Systems

In recent years, public transport company gained less profit from their daily operation, and management in these companies are eager to find an effective way to alter such a situation. This paper intends to discover the way for the public transport company to do toward three grades contain negotiating to superiors like governments, managing themselves about their structure and serving for inferiors like citizens. Many cases of public transport operators around the world are analyzed in this paper in order to get a more accurate direction for their development, and some of them did an excellent achievement, research for these companies includes several innovative ideas for operators. The result shows that the more based on mutual benefit and interest, the more profit and reputation would attain. Many kinds of negotiating, managing, and serving methods were introduced in the paper, people prefer the cooperator while their interest is considered in opponents plan. It is suggested to absorb the idea in corresponding part they need to put into use.

PROSPECTS FOR THE USE OF AGILE METHODOLOGIES DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A ROUTE NETWORK PROJECT FOR TRANSPORT OPERATOR

The paper considers the features of Agile project management methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban, and Lean manufacturing. The experience of their use in transport systems and technologies is studied. During the research, it was determined that these methodologies are often used for the organisation of freight transportation and logistics, and there is almost no information on their implementation in urban passenger transportation. The use of alternative methods for managing road transport enterprises and projects is essential as it will contribute to the effective organisation of passenger transportation and estimation of the rational fleet size, which, in turn, will improve the quality of service for passengers, reduce adverse transport monopoly effects, promote business development and create new jobs. This will allow people to access healthcare and educational services, save time and resources, and reduce travel costs. The paper proposes to combine the principles of the Scrum methodology and the cascade approach by the example of managing the project devoted to improving the route network of a public transport operator. A list of actions and processes necessary to reflect the project sprints is provided. The research results show that implementing the agile management principles will improve the quality of modelling and project development and positively influence the enterprise management culture.

Spatiotemporal analysis of CO2 emissions and emission reduction potential of Beijing buses using smart card data

Human activities, primarily carbon dioxide emissions, have undeniably caused global warming. The transportation sector contributes about a quarter of global CO2 emissions. While replacing traditional buses with electric ones has reduced emissions, it is crucial to consider the indirect emissions resulting from electricity consumption. This study proposes a framework for modeling bus emissions using smart card data, integrating spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and emission reduction potentials. Our analysis reveals that routes spanning 10–30 km contribute to 81% of total bus emissions, with an average emission rate of 56.2 gCO2/per-km for residents traveling by bus. Bus emissions also exhibit cyclical variations during holidays, weekdays, and weekends, indicating spatial clustering and trends. Although the area within Beijing's 4th Ring Road constitutes only 13% of the total area within the 6th Ring Road, it generates almost half of the CO2 emissions. With urban expansion, total bus emissions increase gradually, but emission intensity decreases. This study emphasizes the potential for reducing emissions through improved public transportation operations. It recommends fully electrifying the bus fleet and employing low grid emission factors, which could reduce emissions by up to 71% compared to diesel options. Electrification of buses and optimizing power generation on the grid are essential priorities for emission reduction.

Public Transportation Strategy in Response to Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on public transportation worldwide. At the beginning of the pandemic, public transportation systems reduced their performance by 80-90% in major cities in China, Iran, and the United States, and by 70% in the UK, including a significant decline in Indonesia. Several studies have shown that public transportation contributes significantly to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This study aims to review the use of public transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A systematic review using the PRISMA guidelines was conducted on literature published between 2020-2023 with inclusion criteria of national and international research articles in English related to the title "Public Transportation Strategy in Response to COVID-19". The database sources used were Scopus, Google Scholar, and PubMed. Results: Based on the literature review, it is concluded that efforts to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in public transportation include providing personal protective equipment (PPE) for all public transportation crew, implementing strict physical distancing policies among passengers inside the vehicle, ensuring good ventilation, and enforcing the use of masks and hand hygiene. Another solution is to provide non-cash payment options to reduce physical contact between passengers and transportation personnel. The government and public transportation operators should consistently prepare supporting facilities and educate users about physical distancing, using masks, and hand hygiene through posters, social media, and regular announcements in public transportation areas. Implementing strategies in public transportation in response to COVID-19 requires collaboration between the government, transportation operators, and the public.

Level of service of public transport operation - pilot study

Smart transport planning based on the use of available data while supporting sustainable transport modes is an integral part of the Smart city concept. This article presents a critical analysis of the Level of Service of Public Transport Operation Assessment Method, which is based on two indicators - the reliability index and the travel speed index. The method is applied to a larger sample of data from several different cities, it makes it possible to evaluate the possible shortcomings of the method, since the method has not yet been applied to such a large number of case studies.

The impact of COVID-19 on travel mobility of older passengers on Xi'an urban rail in China

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to unprecedented changes in people's lives and travel. Public transportation operators must understand individual mobility during COVID-19. Few studies have focused on the impact of COVID-19 on the travel behaviors of vulnerable older adults. To fill this research gap, this study is conducted using smartcard data from the Xi'an urban rail transit during the time of COVID-19 from February 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020. This study first divides the research objects, that is, passengers, into two groups of young adults and older adults, and periods into three stages: the outbreak, post-pandemic, and recovery. Indicators of travel distance, travel frequency, and activity duration were introduced for the two passenger groups to quantify their travel mobility in different stages. To evaluate the spatiotemporal performance of travel mobility, the travel time distribution of the two groups of passengers in each stage was continuously tracked and the returning passengers were proposed to measure the spatial distribution of station-level ridership. In summary, this study provides not only a deeper understanding of the mobility of older passengers during COVID-19 but also useful insights for urban rail transit managers to make more effective decisions for older adults.

Pathways to integrating paratransit and formal public transport: Case studies from Tshwane, South Africa

At its core public transport integration is about the collaboration of actors. Collaboration is elusive and difficult to achieve, especially in developing countries where insufficient regulation and dispersed, quasi-formal public transport operations are common. Asymmetries in information and objectives between paratransit and formal sector actors create barriers and may prevent synergies from emerging. A simplified framework for assessing the collaboration of actors during the implementation of integrated public transport projects is proposed. The position of the framework is that it is critical to identify actors’ objectives and barriers to collaboration, and then to action decisions to remove these barriers and achieve objectives at every step of the STO (Strategic Tactical Operational) decision-making process to maintain structural and horizontal consistency. The framework is tested ex-post on two public transport integration projects in Tshwane, South Africa: the Gautrain regional rapid rail and A Re Yeng Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), both of which are supported by paratransit feeders. The case study shows how collaboration is achieved when all the key actors' objectives and barriers are understood, planned for and implemented across the STO levels and how failure to do so can lead to failed integration outcomes. The framework may be useful to authorities pursuing collaboration with paratransit for the purposes of implementing integrated public transport in the Global South.

Benchmarking Travel Time and Demand Prediction Methods Using Large-scale Metro Smart Card Data

Urban mass transit systems generate large volumes of data via automated systems established for ticketing, signalling, and other operational processes. This study is motivated by the observation that despite the availability of sophisticated quantitative methods, most public transport operators are constrained in exploiting the information their datasets contain. This paper intends to address this gap in the context of real-time demand and travel time prediction with smart card data. We comparatively benchmark the predictive performance of four quantitative prediction methods: multivariate linear regression (MVLR) and semiparametric regression (SPR) widely used in the econometric literature, and random forest regression (RFR) and support vector machine regression (SVMR) from machine learning. We find that the SVMR and RFR methods are the most accurate in travel flow and travel time prediction, respectively. However, we also find that the SPR technique offers lower computation time at the expense of minor inefficiency in predictive power in comparison with the two machine learning methods.

Knowledge Management in Public Transport: a Portuguese Empirical Study

This paper aims to investigate knowledge management processes in a metro company. We focused on core knowledge and its impact on the overall performance of a public transport operator. It presents a case study from the Lisbon-based public transport operator Metropolitano de Lisboa, E.P.E. The challenges of knowledge management in a metro company, such as time savings and efficiency, can be mitigated by the creation of a structured and target-oriented knowledge framework and information architecture that enables knowledge reuse throughout KM aims the company or/and in specific communities of practices. The current study seeks to investigate the role of signalling experts in knowledge management in a metro company through the use of a case study based on accessing the documentation required to deliver their technical outputs. Qualitative methods were used to conceive, design, and implement the specific experience under analysis. The approach involved semi-structured interviews with a sample of five core operational managers and an online questionnaire directed at the study’s core knowledge actors (90 experts) and a Delphi Study applied to the five signalling experts. The results showed that optimizing knowledge management leads to increased operator efficiency and decision-making. The findings of the empirical case analysis combined with the literature review provide useful insights to construct a target-oriented knowledge management methodology in a metro company. One of the study’s key findings is the relationship between decision-making and knowledge management tools. The findings of the empirical case analysis, combined with the literature review, provide useful insights into the awareness of an urgent target-oriented knowledge management framework in a metro company. This study was built on the available data from Railway signalling metro experts, which may be perceived as limited in the overall context. We consider that there is no special bias associated with this area of expertise and that the overall approach could be adopted and further tested in any other metro company, regardless of size. This essay added novel information to the available body of knowledge by providing an in-depth analysis of a core discipline of metro mode by addressing the accessibility to information by Railway signalling professionals.

Re-evaluating roles and relationships between city authorities and informal public transport operators in sub-saharan africa: A comparative analysis of five cities

Informal Public Transport (IPT) is the primary form of transport throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, responding dynamically to passenger needs, including those of the poorest travellers. Despite this form of collective transport's positive contribution to growing cities, there remain important negative aspects to be addressed, including strong competition for passengers, severe air pollution and poor safety records. The TRANSITIONS project (funded by UKAID) sought to better understand how IPT can be supported to deliver improved service quality, and investigated the relationship between public authorities and IPT operators in the five cities of Accra, Kumasi, Freetown, Cape Town and Maputo. Based on research activities that included stakeholder interviews and workshops, this paper compares the regulatory frameworks of the cities and their evolution. It finds that Cape Town has been an ‘early mover’ in terms of its attempts to professionalise and support the sector, but that self-regulation continues to play a significant role. Accra, Kumasi and Maputo have the main IPT licensing frameworks in place, but limited enforcement capacity and elements of corruption undermine this. Freetown is currently developing a regulatory structure for IPT, which is likely to be informed by major public transport schemes that are frequently seen as the catalyst for IPT professionalisation initiatives.

Evaluation of urban public transport sustainability in China based on the Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework——A case study of 36 major cities

With urbanization and motorization, the sustainable development of urban transport has drawn extensive attention worldwide. As one of the key components of the transport system, urban public transport is the breakthrough. This study focused on the characteristics of public transport, analyzed the causal and restrictive relationships between anthropogenic activities and urban public transport sustainability based on the Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework, and decomposed the interaction to establish an evaluation index system. An improved set pair analysis-variable fuzzy set model (ISPA-VFSM) was constructed to evaluate urban public transport sustainability in China's 36 major cities in 2020 and analyze the critical influence factors and restriction modes according to the contribution degree and obstacle degree. The results show that: (1) The sustainable development of urban public transport is a systematic process, and public transport sustainability in 36 major cities shows the spatial distribution characteristics of “high in the southeast and low in the west;” Most megacities are at the forefront, benefiting from outstanding state and response levels, with Shenzhen ranking first; while the megapolises generally display moderate sustainability. Cities in Northeast and Northwest China present lower levels of sustainability. (2) Public transport sustainability in China is deficient, exhibiting a certain gap from the target. The levels of the driving force, pressure, state, impact, and response of public transport sustainability in 36 major cities are unbalanced; (3) The restriction mode of urban public transport sustainability in 36 major cities can be roughly divided into three categories: pressure-impact restriction mode, driving force-impact restriction mode, and state-response restriction mode; (4) State and response play a crucial role in achieving public transport sustainability. Public transport infrastructure, electrification substitution, and efficiency of public transport operations are the primary contributing factors to public transport sustainability. This study enriches the indicators and methods for sustainability evaluation and provides a reference for urban public transport sustainable development.

Crowd-shipping as a Service: Game-based operating strategy design and analysis

Crowd-shipping as a Service (CSaaS), a novel concept proposed in this study for the Online-to-Offline (O2O) market, integrates different kinds of shipping services provided by individuals and public transport (PT) operators and enables booking and payment through a single CSaaS platform. It largely increases the shipping capacities and provides a flexible shipping mode for consignees with parcel delivery requests. Focusing on the role of the CSaaS platform, we design the commission-based and integrator-based operating strategies in the presence of CSaaS, where the CSaaS platform acts as an intermediary and a reseller, respectively. To explicitly depict the interactive relations among O2O players, i.e., the CSaaS platform, the individual-based crowd-shipping (I-CS) platform, the PT operator, the conventional logistics (CL) platform, and consignees, we adopt a game-theoretic approach to formulate the business models with and without CSaaS and derive the optimal behaviors of these players, i.e., the price decisions of platforms/operators and the choice decisions of consignees regarding which shipping mode (i.e., the I-CS, CSaaS, and CL modes) to choose. Analytical results show that the commission-based operating strategy outperforms the integrator-based strategy with a larger CSaaS platform's profit. In addition, the impact of CSaaS on O2O players is also identified by comparing the results of two business models, which is found to be closely related to the urban structure regarding PT accessibility. Managerial implications concerning launching the CSaaS service are proposed at last.