Public Transport Operators Research Articles

Using Large-Scale Drone Data to Monitor and Assess the Behavior of Freight Vehicles on Urban Level

Compared with public transport operations, urban freight traffic and its associated delivery operations seem to be frequently overlooked in urban traffic management and traffic flow theory. One explanation for this is certainly the lack of available data, as the competitive freight transport market is fragmented and several actors are unwilling to collect or share tactical and operational data. In this study, we use the unique pNEUMA drone data set from Athens, Greece, to shed light on urban freight operations. We discuss macroscopic traffic indicators in a multimodal context. As the vehicle stopping behavior can adversely influence traffic flow, we reveal the stopping behavior of the different modes represented in the data set using clustering techniques. We find that urban freight vehicles’ stopping frequency lies between the stopping frequencies of cars and buses. We reveal the distribution of stopping times for loading and unloading stops in Athens to have a mean of around 380 seconds. Clustering all loading and unloading stops further reveals three groups of loading and unloading stops that could be labeled by incorporating knowledge and expertise about local particularities. The limited flight time of drones, owing to their battery capacities, did not allow reconstruction of longer vehicle routes, such as an entire vehicle tour within the network. However, this could be addressed in future research by realizing continuous large-scale monitoring routines. The revealed vehicle behavior parameters can be used in traffic models to generate further insights into the impacts of urban freight transport to inform public sector decision makers.

A survey of COVID-19 in public transportation: Transmission risk, mitigation and prevention

The COVID-19 pandemic is posing significant challenges to public transport operators by drastically reducing demand while also requiring them to implement measures that minimize risks to the health of the passengers. While the collective scientific understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 pandemic are rapidly increasing, currently there is a lack of understanding of how the COVID-19 relates to public transport operations. This article presents a comprehensive survey of the current research on COVID-19 transmission mechanisms and how they relate to public transport. We critically assess literature through a lens of disaster management and survey the main transmission mechanisms, forecasting, risks, mitigation, and prevention mechanisms. Social distancing and control on passenger density are found to be the most effective mechanisms. Computing and digital technology can support risk control. Based on our survey, we draw guidelines for public transport operators and highlight open research challenges to establish a research roadmap for the path forward.

Assessment of Rail Transport Conditions and of the Possibility to Increase the Role of Rail Transport in the Public Transport System of the Urban Functional Area of Olsztyn

This article is an introduction to the issue of integrating rail transport with the local public transport system in the Urban Functional Area of Olsztyn. It presents the definition of the said area and the current information on the possibilities of rail transport within it, derived from strategic documents and public debate. This is followed by a detailed description of the technical conditions of the railway infrastructure in the Urban Functional Area of Olsztyn, taking into account investments carried out in recent years, those in progress and those planned, as well as a description of the rail transport services provided. The final part of the article presents the principles of operation of public transport in Poland and some Polish examples of organisational integration. The authors intend to continue the discussion in a further publication. Keywords: railway infrastructure, Olsztyn, public transport, integrated transport system

Governance and business policy impact on carsharing diffusion in European cities

Congestion and pollution are common urban challenges. Among many policy measures, carsharing has been advanced as an instrument to mitigate adverse consequences of urban mobility. Municipal authorities have responded differently to its promises: some actively promote carsharing and public–private collaboration, others leave this to the market. Likewise, carsharing operators have revealed varying preferences for cities: in some they operate many cars and different business models, in other they are completely absent. Aim of the present study is to evaluate the impact of governance support and business models on urban carsharing diffusion. Based on data about 170 cities in 30 European countries, we find that governance factors, like awareness campaigns and collaboration between the public transport and carsharing operators, favorably contribute to carsharing diffusion. Also, operators’ choices regarding free-floating or station-based carsharing affect diffusion. In all, these findings contribute to the development of urban policies aimed at promoting carsharing diffusion.

An Improved Ant Colony Algorithm for Urban Bus Network Optimization Based on Existing Bus Routes

Adding new lines on the basis of the existing public transport network is an important way to improve public transport operation networks and the quality of urban public transport service. Aiming at the problem that existing routes are rarely considered in the previous research on public transportation network planning, a public transportation network optimization method based on an ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm coupled with the existing routes is proposed. First, the actual road network and existing bus lines were abstracted with a graph data structure, and the integration with origin–destination passenger flow data was completed. Second, according to the ACO algorithm, combined with the existing line structure constraints and ant transfer rules at adjacent nodes, new bus-line planning was realized. Finally, according to the change of direct passenger flow in the entire network, the optimal bus-line network optimization scheme was determined. In the process of node transfer calculation, the algorithm adopts the Softmax strategy to realize path diversity and increase the path search range, while avoiding premature convergence and falling into local optimization. Moreover, the elite ant strategy increases the pheromone release on the current optimal path and accelerates the convergence of the algorithm. Based on existing road network and bus lines, the algorithm carries out new line planning, which increases the rationality and practical feasibility of the new bus-line structure.

AI-based neural network models for bus passenger demand forecasting using smart card data

Accurate short-term forecasting of public transport demand is essential for the operation of on-demand public transport. Knowing where and when future demands for travel are expected allows operators to adjust timetables quickly, which helps improve service quality and reliability and attract more passengers to public transport. This study addresses this need by developing AI-based deep learning models for prediction of bus passenger demands based on actual patronage data obtained from the smart-card ticketing system in Melbourne. The models, which consider the temporal characteristics of travel demand for some of the heaviest bus routes in Melbourne, were developed using real-world data from 18 bus routes and 1,781 bus stops. LSTM and BiLSTM deep learning models were evaluated and compared with five conventional deep learning models using the same data set. A desktop comparison was also undertaken against a number of established demand forecasting models that have been reported in the literature over the past decade. The comparative evaluation results showed that BiLSTM models outperformed other models tested and was able to predict passenger demands with over 90% accuracy.

Electric bus coordinated charging strategy considering V2G and battery degradation

The trend for the decarbonization of the transportation sector, contributing to climate change mitigation, has driven the accelerated deployment of electric buses in cities. However, higher upfront costs, charging infrastructure deployment and operational issues are the main obstacles to their massive adoption. This work develops an optimization model to deal with the charging schedule of a fleet of battery electric buses. This approach aims to minimize the charging costs of electric bus fleets also considering the ageing of the batteries and the participation in vehicle to grid schemes. We developed a case study using real-world data from a small electric bus fleet of eleven electric buses in a medium-size Portuguese city. Further, we performed a sensitivity analysis to assess the possibilities of energy trading with the grid. The results indicate that below a battery replacement cost threshold of 100 €/kWh, it may become economically attractive for public transportation operators to sell back energy to the grid for a given remuneration scheme. Considering battery degradation and energy selling, our study indicates that operation costs could be 38% lower in 2030. The approach presented in this article provides a tool that can be employed by public transportation operators to assist decision making in the electrification of bus systems.

The Analysis of the Effects of a Fare Free Public Transport Travel Demand Based on E-Ticketing

The traditional approach in public transport planning was to collect travel demand data for a more extended period and compose timetables to serve this demand. There are two significant identifiable issues. In the rural areas and off-peak hours, public transport operators provide much more capacities than needed. On the other hand, more capacities than scheduled are needed on certain lines at certain departures on some sporadically occurring occasions. The problem is how to react to short-term changes (daily) triggered by exceptional circumstances and events and midterm changes (weekly, monthly basis) in travel demand. We can trigger changes in travel demand chiefly by introducing a desirable (almost for free) tariff system applied to specific populations. No long-term travel response data exists for this kind of intervention, but an immediate response in public transport supply is needed. In Slovenia, public transport for free for the whole population over 65 years was introduced. With the modern ticketing system, which was designed to be as simple as possible for users (that means »check-in only« at the moment of boarding), the research task was to analyze the travel behavior of the retired population, faced with a new attractive option to travel, based on data of purchased tickets and their afterward validation, for better mid-and long-term planning. Our study finds that ITS technology (in this case, e-ticketing system) can satisfactorily solve the discussed planning and management task.

Fungsi Pengawasan Dinas Perhubungan dalam Penertiban Tarif Angkutan di Provinsi Bali

Public transportation is one part of the transportation sector that is widely used by the Balinese people. An important component in the operation of public transportation that must be considered is the determination of tariffs. The purpose of the study was to analyze the mechanism for controlling public transport fares by the Bali Provincial Transportation Service and to examine the obstacles during the implementation of controlling public transport fares in the Province of Bali. The research method in this paper uses empirical research using a sociological approach and a conceptual approach. The results show that the Government has limited authority in setting tariffs. The authority for public transportation rates for people in Bali Province includes online transportation, conventional taxis, and AKDP transportation. As a result of the pandemic, most entrepreneurs in the transportation sector have lost, this is a factor in the existence of fraud in the imposition of tariffs. In addition, the lack of PPNS personnel and the unavailability of special tools to read barcodes are also obstacles. The Department of Transportation is advised to review comprehensive tariff rules, as well as add PPNS members, and immediately budget for the availability of sophisticated equipment in order to overcome the obstacles that occur.

Electric Bus Charging Scheduling for a Single Public Transport Route Considering Nonlinear Charging Profile and Battery Degradation Effect

This study deals with a fundamental electric bus charging scheduling (EBCS) problem for a single public transport route by considering the nonlinear electric bus (EB) charging profile and battery degradation effect under the partial charging policy, which allows EBs to be charged any length of time and make good use of dwell times between consecutive trips. Given a group of trip tasks for an EB fleet and charger type, the problem is to minimize the total cost for a public transport operator of providing peak-hour bus services for a focal single public transport route by simultaneously determining the EB-to-trip assignment and EB charging schedule with charger type choice subject to the necessary EB operational constraints. We first build a mixed-integer nonlinear and nonconvex programming (MINL&NCP) model for the EBCS problem. To effectively solve the MINL&NCP model to global optimality, we subsequently develop two mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) models by means of linearization and approximation techniques. To accelerate the solution efficiency, we further create three families of valid inequalities depending on the unique features of the problem. A real case study based on the No.171 bus route in Singapore is conducted to demonstrate the performance of the developed models. Extensive numerical experiments are carried out to seek valuable managerial insights for public transport operators.

Integrated Transport System in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Aspect Policy

Abstract The application of an intermodal transportation integration system will make it easier for people to carry out activities, guarantee travel travel time, and optimize the use of public transportation, and have an impact on reducing the use of private vehicles which can affect road performance. The policy for implementing the transportation integration system needs to be considered in order to accommodate travel activities by following regional development conditions. This study aims to determine the management integration and the constraints in implementing the transportation integration system. This study uses a qualitative method by taking into account the aspects of the policy which involve elements of regulators, operators and consumers. This research shows that the regulator is able to carry out the management of the transportation integration system through the implementation of government affairs in the transportation sector, however, there are obstacles in the form of regulatory linkages, coordination and limited authority. So it is necessary to optimize the role of regulators to be able to coordinate intensely with public transport operators in order to realize an integrated transportation system management that can meet the travel needs of the community.

Social Media Mining on Taipei's Mass Rapid Transit Station Services based on Visual-Semantic Deep Learning

For public transport operators, passengers’ comments towards their experience are valuable for promoting more friendly transportation services. This paper demonstrates that passenger-generated online comments can be used to assess railway transportation station services. The natural language processing and social media mining techniques that include establishing an opinion classification model through visual semantic fusion deep learning methods are applied to assess Taipei’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station services from the internet opinions. An opinion monitoring system includes: (1) opinion mining to build a social media comment dataset on the ontology of MRT stations.; (2) proposing intent-sentiment, image-text relationship, and content type categories to assist accessing of passengers’ quality of experience; (3) constructing a classification model to classify the nature of opinions (4) proposing visualization to provide an intuitive information display dashboard to help Taipei’s MRT operator sense the sentiment-intention trends of comments on each station and access the current service level as well as part of the quality management assessment is also proposed.

Teleworking during COVID-19 in the Netherlands: Understanding behaviour, attitudes, and future intentions of train travellers.

With the arrival of COVID-19 in the Netherlands in Spring 2020 and the start of the “intelligent lockdown”, daily life changed drastically. The working population was urged to telework as much as possible. However, not everyone had a suitable job for teleworking or liked teleworking. From a mobility perspective, teleworking was considered a suitable means to alleviate travel. Even after the pandemic it can (continue to) reduce pressure on the mobility system during peak hours, thereby improving efficiency and level of service of transport services. Additionally, this could reduce transport externalities, such as emissions and unsafety. The structural impact from teleworking offers opportunities, but also challenges for the planning and operations of public transport. The aim of this study is to better understand teleworking during and after COVID-19 among train travellers, to support operators and authorities in their policy making and design. We study the telework behaviour, attitude towards teleworking, and future intentions through a longitudinal data collection. By applying a latent class cluster analysis, we identified six types of teleworkers, varying in their frequency of teleworking, attitude towards teleworking, intentions to the future, socio-demographics and employer policy. In terms of willingness-to-telework in the future, we distinguish three groups: the high willingness-to-telework group (71%), the low willingness-to-telework group (16%), and the least-impacted self-employed (12%). Those with high willingness are expected to have lasting changes in their travel patterns, where especially public transport is impacted. For this group, policy is required to ensure when (which days) and where (geographical) telework takes place, such that public transport operators can better plan and operate their services. For those with low willingness, it is essential that the government provides tools to companies (especially in education and vital sector) such that they can be better prepared for teleworking (mostly during but also after the pandemic). Employers on the other hand need to better support their employees, such that they stay in contact with colleagues and their concentration and productivity can increase.

OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN JOS METROPOLIS, NIGERIA.

The mobility of people and materials especially in the present days is one of the greatest challenges facing public transport services in an urban area. Thus, necessitate the investigation into the operational characteristics of public transportation in Jos Metropolis, Nigeria. The inquiry into the operational characteristics of public transportation in Jos was done via the collection of primary and secondary data and the primary data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The primary data were obtained through administering of questionnaires to commercial transport operators at 2 selected bus parks, 3 motor Parks, 7 Tricycle parks and 5 motorcycle stand points. Oral interview was also done on commercial transport operators to extract necessary information in relation to the aim and objectives of the study. Findings revealed that majority (77.3%) of public transport operators in Jos falls below 41 years, 93.3% earns between N1,000 to NN80,000 monthly, 48.5% were married while, 89% were literate, 58% of public transport vehicles were owned by individuals with 35%overloading of buses occurring at peak periods during week days. This study therefore, recommends that in Jos metropolis, Government should encourage and introduce the use of high occupancy vehicles as a means of public transport at designated traffic corridors to increase carrying capacity of vehicles in order reduce waiting time of passengers at bus parks. Also, avenues for soft loan scheme must be encouraged to help prospective operators in order to be able to afford buying vehicles for public transport services. Finally, Gender sensitive policies must be formulated by the Government to encourage female membership and participation.

Impact of Residential Land Use Change on Intra Urban Road Network of Akure, Nigeria

The utilization of different land uses in different locations generates the demand for transport, where system and supply of transport enable the distribution of different land uses in different locations. Therefore, one can simply argue that urban and spatial planners, transport planners, highway engineers, public transport and logistics operators, retailers and developers should all come together to create new strategies and policies on the logic of land use management, transport geography, accessibility, and implied division of labors. This study investigated the impact of residential land use change on intra urban road network of Akure, a medium size city with moderate population in southwestern Nigeria. Four major intra urban roads in the city center were considered in this research and a total of 150 houses and residents within 200m distance from the roads which amounted to 5% of the buildings within the study area were sampled. Information, relating to road network, condition of road, level of land use conversion among others, was gotten with Geographic Information System (GIS), questionnaire, personal observation and interview. It was found out that, most residential land use along intra urban roads in the city center had been converted to commercial land use either totally or partially. The study affirmed that, residential land use change has both physical and socio economic impacts on road network development and the environment. It was therefore recommended that, proper land use planning, establishment of a commercial center to cater for the city’s commercial needs and the preparation and implementation of a transportation master plan will reduce the problems observed. This will ensure adequate intra urban road management as well as sustainable urban development in Nigeria.

Will COVID‐19 hinder or aid the transition to sustainable urban mobility? Spotlight on Portugal’s largest urban agglomeration

This study discusses the possible effects of two major COVID‐19 disruptions – that is, the widespread adoption of working from home and the ‘bio‐security’ fear affecting public transport – on travel patterns in Lisbon urban agglomeration. Drawing on evidence from the literature on the effects of teleworking on travel demand and the determinants of public transport, together with the analysis of travel data before and during the pandemic, the study concludes that the pandemic may hinder, more than aid, the transition to a sustainable mobility paradigm in Lisbon and its metropolitan area. The analysis of monthly travel demand shows that car use has recovered at a faster rate than public transport use, reaching pre‐pandemic levels in some of the main arterial roads serving Lisbon. There appears to be a substitution of public transport trips by both driving and active micromobility. The main losers so far are public transport operators: the pandemic increased operating deficits and the need for additional public subsidies, putting at risk the future financial sustainability of public transport. Without serious commitment by local and national governments, the pandemic is likely to be another missed opportunity to transition to a better, more sustainable, urban mobility system.

How Ride‐Sharing Is Shaping Public Transit System: A Counterfactual Estimator Approach

The new sharing economy model has introduced a dramatic, disruptive impact on the traditional industries by matching the demand and supply in real time. In this study, we examine how the entry of Uber, a ride‐sharing services digital platform, brings new disruptive changes in public transportation operations. Significant debate has surrounded whether the new ride‐sharing model siphoned riders from public transit or made public transit feasible for more riders, but no consensus has been reached. One reason could be that the commonly used difference‐in‐differences empirical strategy fails to account for time‐varying unobserved confounders. To address this issue, we introduce a class of counterfactual estimators (CEs) to strengthen our causal identification and perform diagnostic tests to validate model assumptions for each CE. A significant drop in passenger trips with buses is found after Uber entry from both the conventional two‐way fixed effects model and the CEs. Moreover, we provide empirical evidence that the entry of Uber has not significantly affected public demand response transportation, which indicates that Uber is not directly competing with other transportation services that aim to solve the “last‐mile problem.” Last, our additional analyses suggest that the effect of Uber entry is not uniform for different urban areas. All these empirical findings can be coherently explained in our framework of the substitution effect of Uber.

Robustness and disturbances in public transport

Network-based systems are at the core of our everyday life. Whether it is electronic networking, electricity grids or transportation, users expect the networks to function properly and provide a feeling of safety and security. However, there may be disturbances. In this paper, we consider disturbances in the context of public transportation. The focus in this respect is on public transport planning and operations. To classify and cope with disturbances, one can find many ideas, including robustness, resilience, vulnerability, disruption mitigation or delay management. We survey related streams of literature and put them into perspective. As a major insight we show that different strands of literature exist that may benefit from becoming better connected and intertwined. Together with recent advances in information technology and solution methods, more integrated problem settings incorporating robustness and disturbances can play a major role in future planning and operations.

Commitment to Passenger Safety in Arab Jurisdictions

Considering the expanding literature on public transportation, which covers topics as diverse as railway disruption management and electric vehicle scheduling, few people are aware of the legal frameworks that support public transportation networks. Nonetheless, such regimes are critical to successful public transportation management because they define the rights and duties of public transportation operators and passengers, with the goal of limiting passenger annoyance and injury while also improving their overall safety. We look at a key component of public transportation, namely the transporter's dedication to passenger safety, as it is practiced in Arab countries like Egypt and Iraq. We do so by drawing on the French legal system, which has impact-ed the development of pertinent legislation in those countries substantially. Our research is qualitative and analytic in nature, and it is based on legislation, textbooks, journals, and official governmental publications. It helps to raise knowledge about the legal implications of public transportation.

Strategy for Safe Passenger Transport during the COVID-19 Pandemic: From Review to Recommendation

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a large-scale disruption to countries worldwide particularly in road traffic changes and people mobility. To respond to this, a titanic amount of published studies had investigated those concerns. However, a study describing mitigation efforts relating to this pandemic in the transportation sector is scarce. On the other hand, the lack of coordination between transportation authorities, public transport operators, and passengers triggers complex issues including the accumulation of passengers at bus stations that potentially increase virus transmission. For this reason, this article intends to investigate and establish strategies for safe passenger transport. The finding of the article presented four basic strategies as follows: First, a coordinated response among stakeholders and government is needed to develop comprehensive policies. Second, coordinated demand management is required to maintain a balance between government policies and citizen demands. Third, provide health education on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to public transport crews. Fourth, protecting the passengers and maintaining trust in public transport services. Additionally, it is recommended to provide adequate infrastructure, perform regular check-ups (i.e. assessing body temperature before entering public transportation), provide up-to-date COVID-19 health alert, and implement health protocol. Also, when this pandemic is over, the use of fuel-based transportation needs to be reduced, especially for short trips. To optimize this strategy, the role of government and health authorities on the policy side is crucial. Also, a good response from public transport operators and passengers is the key to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic in the transportation area.