Sustainable Public Transport System Research Articles

Analysis of Topological Properties and Robustness of Urban Public Transport Networks

With the acceleration of urbanization, public transport networks are an important part of urban transport systems, and their robustness is critical for city operation. The objective of this study is to analyze the topological properties and robustness of an urban public transport network (UPTN) with a view to enhancing the sustainability of urbanization. In order to present the topological structure of the UPTN, the L-Space complex network modeling method is used to construct a model. Topological characteristics of the network are calculated. Based on single evaluation indices of station significance, a comprehensive evaluation index is proposed as the basis for selecting critical stations. The UPTN cascading failure model is established. Using the proportion of the maximum connected subgraph as the evaluation index, the robustness of the UPTN is analyzed using different station significance indices and deliberate attack strategies. The public transport network of Xuzhou city is selected for instance analysis. The results show that the UPTN in Xuzhou city has small-world effects and scale-free characteristics. Although the network has poor connectivity, it is a convenient means to travel for residents with many independent communities. The network’s dynamic robustness is demonstrably inferior to its static robustness due to the prevalence of cascading failure phenomena. Specifically, the failure of important stations has a wider impact on the network performance. Improving their load capacity and distributing the routes via them will help bolster the network resistance against contingencies. This study provides a scientific basis and strategic recommendations for urban planners and public transport managers to achieve a more sustainable public transport system.

Biometric Breakthroughs for Sustainable Travel: Transforming Public Transportation through Secure Identification

This study investigates the use of biometric technology in public transit to improve trip safety and effectiveness. The incorporation of biometric technology into transit networks improves efficiency and security but also poses substantial challenges of privacy, standardisation, and public acceptability. Conducted via a poll of 25 specialists in Lithuania, the objective was to assess the level of acceptability and practicality of using biometric identification for both drivers and passengers. The results suggest a divided view about the specific demographic that biometric applications should target. However, there is agreement on the considerable potential of these technologies to enhance transportation safety. Face recognition has been the favoured approach due to its non-intrusive nature and simplicity of integration. The statistical research demonstrated significant positive correlations between different biometric approaches, indicating that a multimodal strategy is effective for providing full security coverage. The research highlights the significance of resolving privacy issues, emphasising that public acceptability depends on the open management and strong safeguarding of biometric data. The findings support the deliberate use of biometric technologies in sustainable public transportation, emphasising their ability to improve safety, optimise operations, and even revolutionise the passenger experience. This emphasises the equitable examination of technology, security, and privacy in the progress of sustainable public transportation systems. Biometric technology in public transport, especially for monitoring driver health and ensuring passenger safety, is supported by experts as a means to enhance service quality, reduce accidents, and optimize route planning.

Exploring Sustainable Public Transport System for the Provision of Quality Education Services in Public Universities: A Situational Analysis

This study was conducted to explore the experience of university community regarding the use of available public transport in public universities in Tanzania. The study intended to explore the common transport systems used within the public universities; the risks and challenges of using the available transport systems in execution of day-to-day core functions of the university; and lastly, the effective and efficient transport systems in promoting the teaching and learning process in public universities. A cross-sectional survey design with mixed research approaches was employed. Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were used to get a total sample of 125 respondents from public universities in Tanzania. Data were collected by using self-administered semi-structured questionnaires and in-depth interview. The findings revealed that common transport systems used within the campuses included motorcycle hire, commuter buses, walking, bicycle hire, private bicycle, private motorcycle, university buses, bajaji (rickshaws) hire, and taxi cabs. Moreover, the study revealed that the risks and challenges of using the current transport system within the university campuses included time consuming, costly, and getting late to classes, accident, tiredness, and theft. Furthermore, the study revealed that the effective and efficient transport system within university campuses included the commuter buses, motorcycle hire, private motorcycle, walking, and private cars. The study recommends establishing an internal transportation pool which will be able to offer sustainable, reliable, effective and efficient transportation means within the university. Understanding the campus impediments may help universities design more attractive and useful transport facilities. The current study will inform the university management about the need to promote bicycling and walking which are ecological friendly; improve social interactions; as well as spur physical well-being among the students, staff and university community.

Analysis of Health-Based Transportation System for Health Transformation in DKI Jakarta

The quality of transportation in big cities, especially in DKI Jakarta faces many challenges, such as high population creating traffic congestion, air pollution, and access to public transportation. Currently, DKI Jakarta has a population of 10.67 million in 2022 and is ranked 38 out of 60 countries with good public transportation, the development of health-based transportation that is effective in reducing health impacts, infrastructure and urban design are important in supporting high mobility. An important aspect of improving transportation in big cities is the development of sustainable public transportation systems. Using the PRISMA extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, 93 articles published between 2000 and 2022 met the inclusion criteria looking at Health-based transport, Urbanization, and Policy. Health-based transportation is very important to be addressed by encouraging sustainable development, green transportation, good urban planning to data-driven policy making, utilizing data and technology, can contribute to public health and a healthier and more livable urban environment, this still requires collaborative efforts from the government, policy makers, and the community to create an efficient and sustainable transportation system in DKI Jakarta

Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchal Process for Sustainable Public Transport System

The analytic The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a well-established methodology for tackling complex multi-criteria decision problems in practical contexts. However, like many decision-making approaches, AHP confronts certain limitations, particularly in scenarios where evaluations are fraught with uncertainty and imprecision. This study sets out to enhance the capabilities of the AHP method and provide a comprehensive evaluation of public bus transport service quality within Budapest, Hungary. To address the inherent uncertainties in real-world decision-making, the study leverages the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP), a fusion of Fuzzy Set Theory with the traditional AHP. This novel approach equips decision-makers with a more robust framework to handle the multifaceted nature of real-world decision problems. The study is grounded in empirical data obtained through dynamic surveys, ensuring its relevance to the actual conditions experienced in Budapest. Expert evaluators, well-versed in the field, contribute their assessments to enrich the analysis. This novel FAHP approach doesn't just promise improved decision-making outcomes; it also champions simplicity and comprehensibility. Its computational efficiency streamlines the decision-making process, providing a powerful tool for evaluating public bus transport service quality, thereby offering a significant contribution to the sustainable development of Budapest's transportation system.

The Accessibility of Public Transportation Stops: Istanbul Case

The study emphasizes the importance of creating a sustainable public transportation system that people can use comfortably. This sustainable transportation approach aims to deliver transportation plans focused on people, society and space. Developing public transportation systems that contribute to social equality by appealing to all segments of society and reducing traffic density has become one of the main objectives of transportation plans. Ensuring the accessibility of public transportation stops is a crucial aspect of achieving this objective. In this context, the study examines the accessibility of public transportation stops in Istanbul. For the accessibility measurements of public transportation stops, the study uses the Service Areas Analysis tool in the ArcGIS program's Network Analyst extension, a geographical information system-based software program. The analysis results indicate that approximately 90% of the population can reach the stops of rubber-tyred public transportation types (one of the public transportation types in Istanbul) within a five-minute walking distance. However, the ratio of the population that can reach rail system stations and maritime transportation piers within a five-minute walking distance is only approximately 3%. Accordingly, it can be seen that the Istanbul transportation system depends heavily on the rubber-tyred public transportation system.

Data-Driven Approach for Measuring and Managing Physical Distancing in Subways during Pandemic Conditions

Physical distancing was considered one of the key strategies for controlling the transmission of COVID-19. Its importance is particularly emphasized with regard to public transportation, on which passengers gather in confined spaces and create a high population density. Public transportation, although integral to the functioning of urban systems, possesses the potential to facilitate disease transmission. Its dual nature has motivated researchers and policymakers to propose transportation policies aimed at minimizing COVID-19 transmission. Nevertheless, quantitative assessments of physical distancing in relation to public transportation to support informed decision-making remain scarce. This study highlights the importance of data-driven analytics for understanding and assessing physical distancing when using public transportation. By applying a stochastic approach to smart card and train log data collected in Seoul, we estimated the routes traveled by subway passengers. We then calculated physical distances using the unit of links, which represents the flow of passengers between two consecutive stations, to obtain the spatiotemporal distribution of physical distances across the subway network. Using percentile ranks of these physical distances, we identified sections in which close physical distancing persisted after the pandemic. Additionally, we conducted an analysis comparing the travel time using subways with alternative modes of transportation such as buses and automobiles. Our data-driven analysis yields insights into areas within the public transportation system that require intervention and provides valuable information to policymakers for devising strategies for a safer and more sustainable public transportation system considering COVID-19 and potential future epidemics.

Towards inclusive underground public transportation: Gender differences on thermal comfort

As urbanization and societal needs grow, the demand for inclusive, efficient, and sustainable underground public transportation has increased, necessitating a greater focus on enhancing passengers' thermal comfort. However, limited research has addressed the subway station environment, and restricted datasets are challenging to build an accurate nonlinear model. Therefore, this study proposes a thermal comfort data generation algorithm based on 5161 measured data via the Variational Autoencoder (VAE) framework to break data collection constraints and increase thermal comfort model accuracy. By employing a gradient boosting algorithm on the extensively generated dataset, this study investigated factors influencing thermal comfort in subway stations, emphasizing individual gender differences and dynamic environmental variables. The VAE model enhanced the thermal comfort dataset, resulting in a 29% and 35% increase in male and female test set accuracy, respectively. The study suggests that males with a BMI over 27 were more sensitive to temperature. As for the gender-friendly environmental features, people feel most comfortable at temperatures between 24 and 29 °C and relative humidity levels between 20% and 70%. Additionally, the study reveals that a stable environment promotes enhanced thermal comfort for passengers. These insights contribute to developing sustainable, equitable, and user-friendly underground public transportation systems.

Evaluating public transport performance to guide public transport planning: A unified prior method

Public transport performance (PTP) depicts the efficiency of a city’s public transport. Evaluating PTP is the foundation to build a sustainable public transport system. However, extant methods are not suitable for evaluating PTP at the planning stage. This paper initiates a unified prior evaluation method that guides the planning of public transport without observational data. We represent the multimodal public transport system as a multigraph, where node function and connectivities are embedded as node property, planning specification and graph metrics are incorporated as the weight of the edge. By node convolution and node clustering, eight typical subgraphs are enumerated. Graph classification evaluates the PTP by identifying combinations of subgraphs within a region and motif analysis reveals how local transfer patterns contribute to PTP. The experiment results within Wuhan’s Third Ring Road show that our evaluation accuracy is up to 82%. We found that areas with high accessibility and equality of public transport facilities also have high PTP. From small scales (stations) to large scales (regions), PTP evolves from spatial homogeneity to heterogeneity. Using these features, urban planners can design an efficient public transport system with a point-to-surface effect and integrate ground and underground transport modes.

MILP model for fleet and charging infrastructure decisions for fast-charging city electric bus services

The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is one of required conditions for the transition to the sustainable cities. The creation of sustainable public transportation system is seen as an efcient long-term solution to achieve it. This paper develops a framework for designing a sustainable infrastructure for fast-charging electric buses. This framework helps the decision makers and in particular public authorities to determine a heterogeneous fleet of electric buses, to design the network of required charging facilities and to maximize the flow of passengers utilizing sustainable public transportation to minimize the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. An efcient Mixed Integer Linear Programming model is developed for the particular case where all chargers are interchangeable among the electrical buses. The decision-making process is illustrated through a case study for the public bus transportation in the city of Minsk. Extensive computer experiments show that the developed model provides efcient solutions in acceptable computational time and outperforms state-of-the-art methods on every tested problem instance.

A novel data-driven energy management strategy for fuel cell hybrid electric bus based on improved twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm

With the prosperity of artificial intelligence in recent years, energy management strategies (EMSs) based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) have become the mainstream approach to ensure efficient energy distribution of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Moreover, in terms of developing sustainable urban public transportation systems, zero-emission fuel cell hybrid electric buses (FCHEBs) are more promising than hybrid electric buses (HEBs). Given that, this article proposes a novel data-driven EMS based on DRL to enhance the training efficiency of the proposed EMS while improving the fuel economy of an FCHEB. In this article, to optimize the power allocation of the FCHEB, an improved twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradient (TD3) algorithm combined with prioritized experience replay is innovatively formulated, and then a promising EMS based on it is proposed. Furthermore, to enhance the adaptability and improve the training efficiency of the proposed EMS, a stochastic training environment is established with massive real-world velocity data, and a pre-training method using the global optimal experience is designed. Simulation results show that the proposed EMS improves fuel economy by 5.87% compared with the EMS based on original TD3, reaching 97.15% of the global optimal dynamic programming method.

Transit-oriented development strategy in Taiwan: An application of land value capture

Transit-oriented development (TOD) has been widely used in many countries to create more sustainable cities. In 1983, the “Taipei City Self-Ordinance for Land Use Zoning Regulation” was introduced to implement a TOD-equivalent design concept even though the term “TOD” was not yet used worldwide. The regulation specifically allowed any new development within a 500 m radius catchment area of a main public transport station which followed Taipei City's urban planning strategies to have a floor area ratio (FAR) reward up to 30% more than the original FAR (Rule No. 80-4). To strategically plan for TOD, Taipei City has developed a comprehensive TOD strategy with four development aspects, ten development strategies and 32 planning principles. The motivation for private developers to follow Taipei City's TOD strategy is the TOD FAR reward. Value capture, an important funding mechanism for public transport infrastructure, has been implemented in Taipei City's TOD strategy to provide a sustainable public transport system. In order to investigate the impacts of TOD strategy in the form of property value uplift at micro and macro levels, trend analysis and difference in differences modelling are constructed. Model results confirm a significant property value uplift at the micro-level. This review has two strong policy uses. First, it can be a starting point to help cities without a TOD strategy to develop a plan. Second, it can help cities, particularly high population density cities, with an existing TOD plan to review their own TOD plan.

Inclusive and Sustainable Public Transportation in Nairobi

Public transport is a service rendered by the government to its citizens for moving people and goods from one point to another. Sustainable transport refers to systems of transport whose impacts are environmentally and socially acceptable. Sustainable transport is ideally a system that is beneficial to the community environmentally - low- and zero-emission, economically - affordable modes of transport and socially – accessible to everyone. Firstly, a sustainable public transport system is environmentally just when the system endeavours to reduce the amount of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) emissions being emitted into the atmosphere. It is reported that globally transportation systems account for approximately 25% of carbon dioxide emissions and world energy consumption. Secondly, it is socially just when it is readily available and is able to cater for the need of the vulnerable in society such as the elderly, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), children, and even women. Thirdly, it is economically just when the system does not lead to the government losing huge chunks of money due to time lost in traffic congestion, being affordable to commuters, and saving them time. Therefore, Public transport is ideally a public good and should be a public service to the citizens of a country just like education and health. The Kenyan Road-based public transport system is not really a public transport but rather a profit-making private transportation business that serves the transportation needs of the society.

School Commuting: Barriers, Abilities and Strategies toward Sustainable Public Transport Systems in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

This study aims to investigate students’ difficulties in using the bus to get to school based on Rasch analysis and examines students’ innate abilities in handling the barriers. A total of 536 high school students in Yogyakarta were randomly surveyed. This study considers forty barriers of bus use grouped into eight aspects: safety, bus stop reliability, accessibility, mobility, payment system, bus reliability, transfer efficiency, and information and communication technology. The results show that the students experienced 18 main barriers in using the bus. The limited time of travel, circuitous routes, and distance to the bus stops were the three most significant barriers for students in using the bus during the morning commute. Conversely, students reported no difficulty using the bus regarding safety and payment system aspects. This result additionally shows that gender, age, allowance, and drivers’ licenses also influence the extent of the barrier experienced by the students. Finally, some strategies to increase the students’ ability to overcome barriers in utilizing the bus are proposed to create a sustainable public transport system in Yogyakarta.

The impact on urban accessibility conditions of a proposed cableway line in the city of Manizales, Colombia

Abstract Due to the increased tendency to use private transport in urban areas of Manizales and Villamaría municipalities, it is intended to include alternative modes of transport that are more time-efficient and environmentally sustainable to improve the inhabitants’ quality of life. This article aims to analyse the inclusion impact of a sustainable public transport system, such as a new cableway line in the city connecting the Central Business District (CBD) with Ciudadela del Norte district, measuring overall average accessibility for the current and future scenario. This establishes the average travel time and the savings in terms of time shown as a percentage that these modes of transport would create in the population displacement and also which inhabitants are the most likely to benefit.

Social impact assessment towards sustainable urban mobility in Qatar: Understanding behavioral change triggers

In Qatar, majority of the citizens rely on private automobiles compared to public transport. For this reason, it is imperative to consider public views on sustainability issues within the transport sector. This study examines some behavioral change triggers as Qatar moves towards a sustainable public transport system. The dominant view is that using public transport is more sustainable; therefore, the objective of the study was two-fold: to assess public travel behaviors and attitudes with respect to the use of public transportation and to formulate strategies designed to encourage commuters to use sustainable public transport. For this purpose, the study employed a descriptive, correlational research design in the collection and analysis of pertinent data. Primary data was obtained using survey research. Electronic surveys created by Survey Monkey were sent to prospective respondents online with a total sample size of 435. The framework of the questionnaire was: the respondents’ demographic profile, their overall knowledge about automobiles’ impact on the environment, their opinion concerning metro acceptance and initiation about the possible use of a sustainable transport system to the public, their knowledge on the metro project challenges, and their willingness to use the metro. Results indicated that the majority of respondents resisted using public transport, as most of them owned automobiles. Only 24% of respondents said that they would consider using public transport for environmental conservation purposes. The four major setbacks to using the metro system were: the need to wait for the metro to operate (21.4%), lifestyle and culture (16.9%) – respondents used to drive their own cars, climate concerns (16.9%), and the location of metro stations (17.5%). The study concluded that much of the resistance to using the public transport system arises from individual’s high dependency on automobiles. Many of the solutions to this high dependency were linked to land use and urban planning strategies.

Can Variations of Vehicle Driving Status Provide Accurate Predictors of Discomfort? A Study on the Actual Driving Test

The ride comfort of bus passengers is a critical factor that is recognized to attract greater ridership towards a sustainable public transport system. However, it is challenging to predict bus passenger comfort due to the complex non-linear interaction among various factors. In an application-based study, 18 real driving tests were conducted to analyze the correlation between factors induced by motion sickness and the driving status of the vehicle. We used the user’s feedback module (UFM) to record the feelings of passengers, and the six degrees of freedom (6-df) motion parameters were obtained by the accelerometer in the micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) of the smartphone. Then, the data were discriminated and analyzed, and thresholds of the variables affecting the discomfort of passengers in different conditions were obtained. Finally, we established a prediction model of motion sickness duration based on the driving status of vehicles. The result shows that passenger’s comfort is most sensitive to vertical acceleration changes when the vehicle is decelerated, and the duration of motion sickness (DMS) can be effectively predicted (79.8%) by the vehicle’s lateral acceleration, roll, and pitch angular velocity indicators. The findings of this study provide insights into the potential theoretical basis for policymakers to improve the adjustment of the driving strategies and path trajectory of city buses.

Towards a Sustainable Public Transportation: Replacing the Conventional Taxis by a Hybrid Taxi Fleet in the West Bank, Palestine.

Recently, developing sustainable public transportation systems has been highlighted by decision makers and transportation agencies, due to the development of urban areas and the related environmental problems. Implementing new vehicle technologies has been introduced as an appropriate alternative to the conventional taxis. Hybrid electrical vehicles (HEVs) have been the potential candidates for replacing the conventional taxis, since they are more eco-friendly than conventional ones and even more reliable than electric vehicles (EVs) as a mode of public transportation. In this study, current and future environmental impact assessments have been determined for the taxi fleet in the West Bank, Palestine, and the implications of using new vehicle technologies (hybrid taxis) as a replacement of the conventional taxi fleet have been investigated. In order to perform this study, firstly, the data of the number of taxis for the period of 1994–2018 have been collected and a prediction model for the future number of taxis has been developed. The expected total amounts of consumed fuels have been then estimated. Finally, the current and the future N2O and CO2, and emissions, have been estimated and the expected influences of hybrid taxis have been determined. The results of the analysis have concluded that replacing 50% of conventional taxis with a hybrid fleet could achieve 42.3% and 28% reductions in N2O and CO2, respectively, in the next 10 years. A 395% increase in CH4 could be obtained due to the higher amount of CH4 that is produced by the gasoline combustion compared to the diesel fuel, since hybrid vehicles have gasoline-based engines (GHG in terms of CO2-equivalent could be increased by 28.2%).

Analysing the relationship between weather, built environment, and public transport ridership

For a sustainable public transport system, it is important to unveil the spatiotemporal characteristics of ridership and identify the influence mechanisms. Some studies analysed the effects of weather and built environment separately, however, their effects when incorporated remains to be determined. Using smart card data, weather information, and point of interest data from Beijing, the Light Gradient Boosted Machine was employed to investigate the relative importance of weather and built environment variables contributing to daily ridership at the traffic analysis zone level, and investigate the non-linear relationship and interaction effects between them. Weather conditions and built environment contribute 30.22 and 55.83% to ridership fluctuations, respectively. Most variables show complex non-linear and threshold effects on ridership. The interaction effects of weather and weekend/public holiday have a more substantial influence on ridership than weekdays, indicating weather conditions have less impact on regular commuting trips than discretionary trips. The ridership fluctuations in response to changing weather conditions vary with spatial locations. Adverse weather, such as strong wind, high humidity, or heavy rainfall, has a more disruptive impact on leisure-related areas than on residence and office areas. This study can benefit stakeholders in making decisions about optimising public transport networks and scheduling service frequency.

Integrated Passenger Transport System in Rural Areas – A Literature Review

The planning and organisation of public passenger transport in rural areas is a complex process. The transport demand in rural areas is often low, which makes it hard to establish and run a financially sustainable public transport system. A solution is integrated passenger transport that eliminates deficiencies and provides benefits for all participants in the public passenger transport process. This paper describes the impact of integrated passenger transport on mobility in rural areas and critically evaluates different literature sources. Integration of passenger transport in urban areas has been described in the context of rural areas, and the challenges of integration of public passenger transport specific to rural areas have been analysed. Through the application in urban and rural areas, the planning of integrated and non-integrated passenger transport has been functionally analysed. The analysis found an increase in the degree of mobility in the areas that use integrated passenger transport compared to the non-integrated one. This research of the literature review has identified the rural areas of mobility as under-researched. The mobility research can set up a more efficient passenger transport planning system in rural areas.