Urban Bus Routes Research Articles

Bus Bunching at Bus Stops and Its Spatiotemporal Patterns along Urban Bus Routes

Bus Bunching at Bus Stops and Its Spatiotemporal Patterns along Urban Bus Routes

Multi-Objective Optimization of Resilient, Sustainable, and Safe Urban Bus Routes for Tourism Promotion Using a Hybrid Reinforcement Learning Algorithm

Urban transportation systems in tourism-centric cities face challenges from rapid urbanization and population growth. Efficient, resilient, and sustainable bus route optimization is essential to ensure reliable service, minimize environmental impact, and maintain safety standards. This study presents a novel Hybrid Reinforcement Learning-Variable Neighborhood Strategy Adaptive Search (H-RL-VaNSAS) algorithm for multi-objective urban bus route optimization. Our mathematical model maximizes resilience, sustainability, tourist satisfaction, and accessibility while minimizing total travel distance. H-RL-VaNSAS is evaluated against leading optimization methods, including the Crested Porcupine Optimizer (CPO), Krill Herd Algorithm (KHA), and Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA). Using metrics such as Hypervolume and the Average Ratio of Pareto Optimal Solutions, H-RL-VaNSAS demonstrates superior performance. Specifically, H-RL-VaNSAS achieved the highest resilience index (550), sustainability index (370), safety score (480), tourist preferences score (300), and accessibility score (2300), while minimizing total travel distance to 950 km. Compared to other methods, H-RL-VaNSAS improved resilience by 12.24–17.02%, sustainability by 5.71–12.12%, safety by 4.35–9.09%, tourist preferences by 7.14–13.21%, accessibility by 4.55–9.52%, and reduced travel distance by 9.52–17.39%. This research offers a framework for designing efficient, resilient, and sustainable public transit systems that align with urban planning and transportation goals. The integration of reinforcement learning with VaNSAS significantly enhances optimization capabilities, providing a valuable tool for mathematical and urban transportation research communities.

Does urban bus route assignment improve air quality?

Worldwide, one of the most important causes of mortality is air pollution. To solve this problem, governments have implemented policies to reduce on-road and industrial emissions. In this regard, the Barcelona city council and Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) started implementing the Nova Xarxa de Bus (NXB) to redefine the bus network following the criteria of connectivity, efficiency, and rationality. This policy was implemented in seven phases from 2012 to 2018. In this context, this paper analyses the impact of this policy on Barcelona’s air quality using a dataset from 2008 to 2016. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we show that implementing these new routes increased air quality in Barcelona. Additionally, we show that pollution decreased in each phase analysed, especially in the air quality stations near the main roads. From our results, we can infer that an optimal bus route design can improve air quality in urban areas.

Estimation of route speed parameters designed for electric buses

The paper presents a method for the estimation of speed parameters on urban bus routes designed for the use of electric buses. The considered bus route is divided into stopping and running sections. The bus stops are the stopping sections. The running sections connect two neighbouring bus stops. A bus equipped with the GPS receiver moves along the urban bus route at a variable speed. The GPS receiver records at a constant frequency location data that include current bus position and the measurement time. The location data enable the estimation of the time of varying speeds for the running sections and the stop time for the stopping sections. The speed parameters for the sections involve the specification of time periods assigned to the defined speed ranges. Measurement data were recorded on the selected bus route in off-pick and pick hours. The results obtained allow estimation of speed parameters for individual sections and by aggregation for the entire bus route considered. The speed parameters of the bus route correspond to the energy consumption of electric buses and can be applied to determine the properties of the urban bus routes on which electric buses are introduced.

Driving and Energy Profiles of Urban Bus Routes Predicted for Operation with Battery Electric Buses

Battery electric buses are used for operation on urban bus routes. The main disadvantage of battery electric buses is their limited range that depends on energy consumption. This paper presents a new approach to the estimation of energy consumption on urban bus routes based on driving and energy profiles. The energy consumption results from the travel parameters along the bus route. The travel parameters are described by driving profiles. The determination of driving profiles is based on GPS location data recorded by a receiver on a bus. Location data are recorded at consecutive track points at a constant frequency. For each track point, the distance to the preceding track point is determined using the location data, and then the speed and acceleration are calculated. The analyzed bus route is divided into sections. For each section, travel parameters consisting of travel time, speed parameters, and acceleration parameters are determined. Using travel parameters, the energy consumption is estimated for individual sections and the entire bus route. The estimated energy consumption is described by energy profiles. Experimental results have been obtained for the selected urban bus route under various traffic conditions. For the assumed model of energy consumption, the energy consumed on the entire bus route is 1.8 KWh/km at off-peak hours and 2.1 KWh/km at peak hours. The driving and energy profiles describe the urban bus routes well and allow evaluation of the suitability of the bus route for operation with battery electric buses.

Electromobility with Photovoltaic Generation in an Andean City

This research focuses on the measurement of the solar generation potential on the roads of the Andean city of Cuenca, Ecuador, and its application in electric vehicles. The tests were conducted in real environments, whereby natural and artificial structures obstruct direct radiation to the panel during the trajectory. An initial study is presented with daily operating conditions, using an urban bus route as a case study. The methodology used consists of taking measurements on different days and weather conditions to evaluate the photovoltaic generation and its contribution to the energy autonomy of the electric vehicle. Additionally, the energy autonomy between the electric vehicle with its factory configuration versus the one equipped with the solar panel is compared. For this purpose, a photovoltaic panel is installed on the roof of the vehicle, connected to a control system that monitors the radiation and current data, regulating the charging and discharging of the batteries. The aim is to demonstrate that the installation of solar panels on electric vehicles can significantly increase their energy autonomy. The contribution of this research could serve as an initial guide for governments and private companies to make decisions on the deployment of electric buses, electric vehicles and other vehicles integrated with solar photovoltaic energy, taking into account their routes. The findings of the study reveal that the implementation of the mobile charging system improves the range of the electric vehicle used in this study. In detail, an average increase of 40% in range was achieved in favorable environmental conditions and an increase of 14% in unfavorable environmental conditions. It is important to highlight that Cuenca has favorable conditions for solar systems due to its geographical location: altitude, hours of radiation and angle of incidence.

Evaluation of complexity of urban bus routes

Bus transport is the main (often the only) passenger transport connecting all cities of Uzbekistan and their rural settlements and has an important social significance. In modern conditions, the main factor that motivates passengers to choose certain routes and modes of transport in public transport is safe and high speed. Operational conditions on city bus routes vary in complexity, requiring a special approach to planning traffic, measures to ensure fast and safe movement on the route, standardization of the quality of services, and the introduction of fair systems of state financial support. The current methods and technologies for determining the level of complexity of the direction recommended by researchers require specialists to conduct complex tests or special knowledge. There is a need for simple and universal methods of assessing the complexity of the route so that the competent authorities regulating the activities of urban public transport and transport operators can quickly make decisions. This article systematizes the factors influencing the complexity of regular routes served by bus companies operating in the structure of urban public transport and proposes a method of assessing the index of route complexity.

Exhaust emissions of buses LNG and Diesel in RDE tests

Abstract The article compares the exhaust emissions in road conditions of city buses: LNG and Diesel. Both buses met the Euro VI exhaust emission norm. The current strong drive to diversify fuels in Poland and the creation of a large gas port in Świnoujście for LNG imports creates an excellent opportunity to use this fuel, also in road transport. Therefore, the attempt to identify the emission in operation, in first place possible applications, i.e. an LNG bus, comparatively with the emission of a Diesel bus. The operational research carried out concerned such a bus and has not yet been carried out in the country, hence their innovation, also methodological. The conducted research, in particular, was aimed at verifying differences in exhaust emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The study was carried out on one urban bus route performing trips on consecutive days in similar environmental conditions. The performed tests were not strictly type approval tests but only used for comparative purposes. Hence, it was necessary to determine the compliance factor for the relevant exhaust gas substances, with the use of an evaluation algorithm based on measurement windows. Based on these results, the assumption regarding compliance with the emission requirements for the tested buses was verified in real traffic conditions. The exhaust emission values (emission indicators) determined in this way did not exceed the permissible emission limit values for carbon monoxide, while for nitrogen oxides and non-methane hydrocarbons certain exceedances were found.

A new method to measure the rationalities of transit route layouts

Public transport routes (especially urban bus routes) may become tedious and lengthy due to undesired deviations from the target destination directions. This makes public transport less attractive compared to other modes. Optimization of bus route layouts (under the name of rationalisation) ought to concentrate on, primarily, the quantification of the shape (geometric) features of these routes. The present paper has therefore developed a numerical method for measuring the benefits of improving these route layouts. Using the method developed, over one million public transport journeys on 1242 bus lines in Istanbul Metropolitan City have been analysed. For each bus route, rationality values have been calculated and geocoded on GIS to produce a “digital rationality map” of the whole city. In addition, to be able to see the rationality changes by region, the map has been broken into municipal districts. As a result, particularly irrational bus routes were easily identified. The findings have already been taken on board by the National Research Council for immediate consideration of potential improvements and further research directions.

Increase in Speed of Regular Urban Bus Traffic

The article outlines the currently relevant directions for increasing the efficiency of passenger transportation by urban transport, achievable through using modern digital technologies for monitoring and controlling congestion of the road network, traffic management, and assessing reliability of the transportation process. The objective of the study was to develop theoretical base and practical recommendations for increasing speed of traffic on regular urban bus routes during periods of high load of the urban road network using alternate roads. Theoretical studies were based on the analysis of scientific and regulatory sources, and on the system analysis of transportation processes. Experimental studies were carried out in laboratory and road conditions using mathematical modelling, methods of mathematical statistics, technical, economic and system analysis of transportation processes, analysis of passenger flows, field observations. The dependences of the flow rate of vehicles on traffic intensity, technical speed of buses on alternate roads on the flow rate of fixed-route vehicles are obtained. The economic effect resulting from implementation of recommendations was calculated for the conditions of the city of Magnitogorsk, since redirecting the buses to alternate roads during peak load periods for road network allows to increase their route speed by 7 km/h and hence to reduce the need in bus fleet by 2 units, obtaining the target economic effect.

Apoio à decisão multicritério na priorização de rotas para o transporte urbano

Dentre os grandes desafios que o fenômeno da rápida urbanização impõe encontra-se o do planejamento de transporte urbano. Com isto, é preciso criar estratégias que possibilitem boas escolhas a fim de dar um melhor conforto ao usuário e funcionários deste serviço. Um dos problemas mais recorrentes é a definição de rotas, considerando a capacidade de atendimento com maior quantidade de pontos de demandas e minimizando o tempo e comprimento do percurso. É muito relevante para o planejamento do transporte urbano, a decisão de quais rotas são as melhores, de acordo com todos esses critérios. Como auxílio à seleção e priorização de rotas de ônibus urbanos, este trabalho propõe um modelo baseado no método multicritério de apoio a decisão, ELECTRE I. Para esta análise, 4 alternativas de rotas foram estudadas considerando 5 critérios de desempenho, a saber: Comprimento do conjunto de rotas; Tempo de viagem (ida e volta) no conjunto de rotas; Demanda potencial do conjunto de rotas; Capacidade do trecho mais carregado do conjunto de rotas e Capacidade do trecho mais carregado do conjunto de rotas. Este modelo é aplicado em uma rede de transporte urbano, já estudado em pesquisas anteriores. Como resultado, a alternativa 1 se destaca como a mais relevante, apresentando o menor tempo de comprimento e tempo de viagem, atendendo à maior demanda potencial dentre todas as rotas.

Simulation of an integrated public transport system by the example of a compact city

The effectiveness of the transport network depends on the coherence of all message options. Suburban rail transportation and route bus service are travel options often used in medium and large cities in developed and developing countries. Integrating these two travel options reduces total travel time. The study will consider the application of the operational integration model of suburban trains and urban public transport. The model includes two submodels: routing and planning. In the routing submodels, public transport bus routes are generated that pass through the railway station. The planning sub-model will allow developing suburban train schedules with the optimal coordination of timetables for urban bus routes. As an example, the railway station Angarsk and the urban route network are considered. Bus transportation is coordinated with the existing railway timetable for the arrival of local trains. Genetic algorithms are robust optimization techniques and can be used in planning submodels. The result of the study is to determine the routes that require changes in the timetable, taking into account the arriving trains.

A Multi-Objective Optimization and Hybrid Heuristic Approach for Urban Bus Route Network Design

This study proposed a hybrid optimization model for urban bus transit route network design problem (TRNDP). Although several mathematical methods had been developed to make the problem tractable, the methods relied on excessive assumptions, which resulted in over-simplification or idealization of the problems. In light of these considerations, a multi-level and multi-mode network design method was introduced in this study. A multi-level network consisted of three levels: skeleton network, arterial network, and feeder network. The different levels of network were associated with different modes of public transportation (such as subway, light rail transit, trolleybus, BRT, normal bus, and community branch) based on the features of bus routes, city sizes, etc. In addition, according to the respective features of urban transit route network structures, we developed different optimization models for different levels. Finally, the proposed methodology was applied to case studies of the city of Zhaoyuan in China and the transit network of Mandl benchmark. The results showed that the total travel time for the proposed method was significantly lower than that of the competing method, with a 21.51% reduction. In addition, the proposed method provided 85.23% direct travelers, 14.65% travelers with one transfer, 0.12% travelers with two transfers, and no unsatisfied demand, which were better than the results from the compared method.

Aging-aware co-optimization of battery size, depth of discharge, and energy management for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have a large battery pack, and the depth of discharge (DOD) significantly affects the battery longevity. In this paper, the battery degradation is considered in the co-optimization of battery size and energy management for PHEVs using convex programming. The impact of DOD on battery degradation and energy management is also investigated. The cost function consists of fuel consumption, electrical energy consumption, and equivalent battery life loss. A real-world speed profile collected from the urban city bus route up to about 70 km is used as an input to evaluate the proposed method. The results suggest that, for both cases with and without battery degradation, the total cost curve with respect to the preset final state of charge (SOC) is an upward parabola, where the optimal DOD can be identified, and the optimal battery size and energy management can be determined. The results also show that, with an initial SOC of 0.9, the proposed method can reduce the total cost by 3.6 CNY compared to other existing studies with the fixed final SOC. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to explore the effect of battery price and initial SOC on the optimal DOD and total cost.

Methods to calculate and evaluate the efficiency of combined traffic mode in the context of urban bus routes

Problem. Despite certain governmental support, the efficiency of urban passenger transport remains low under the current inflation. Improved economic feasibility of AOCs is possible if only combined operation mode for buses is implemented. Implementation of the measure results in the accelerated transportation, efficient use of road transport vehicles, and transportation services as well as significant reduction in combustible and lubrication materials, and current repair and maintenance of buses. However, lack of uniform methodology and reliable substantiation techniques, neglected basic economic and social factors of transportation process as well as high labour intensity of the available developments complicate seriously determination of rational parameters of the combined transportation forms implementation hindering their wide use. Goal is to develop methods as well as economic and mathematical model making it possible to study and determine both expediency and rational parameters of implementation of combined speedy transportation forms in terms of certain urban route using the selected efficiency criteria. To estimate the modeling results, it is also required to develop a structure of the efficiency complex index while implementing combined transportation forms which would involve basic economic, technologic, and social components of passenger transportation process. Methodology. The paper has applied calculation and experimental approaches. With the help of mathematical modeling, calculation technique has analyzed the effect of different ratios of buses, involved in customary and speedy transportation forms, on the estimation criterion of the combined transportation mode efficiency. Experimental technique studied characteristics of passenger flows within a route, determined average distances of passenger trips, turnover coefficient, and transportation velocity for various types of bus traffics. Results. The proposed nonequilibrum passenger flow coefficient made it possible to obtain zones of preliminary estimation of expediency to implement corresponding transportation forms within certain routes. Efficiency criteria to implement such combined transportation forms have been formulated. A structure of complex efficiency index has been proposed helping select the best variant of numerous ones while involving basic economic, technological, and social indices of passenger transportation process. Originality. To implement a procedure of passenger number redistribution between customary transportation type and speedy one (depending upon the number of buses of corresponding form), a technique has been proposed. The technique is based upon logic analysis of the two matrices: a matrix of interstop correspondence, and a standard time matrix for buses to travel between stopping points of their route. Practical value. Rational parameters to implement the combined transportation type in terms of urban route 70 (city of Dnipro) substantiating release of 7 buses from transportation process and making it possible to reduce unproductive transportation from 2 471.2 down to 216.7 pas. ∙km as well as transportation passenger time consuming from 385.6 down 378.4 hours (including transportation time reduce from 351.0 down to 296.9 hours).

Modelling passenger service rate at a transport hub serviced by a single urban bus route as a queueing system

In this paper the daily service rate at a bus stop from the urban passenger transport network is reviewed. The bus stop is located close to a railway and a bus station. A mathematical model has been developed for the average daily incoming flows of passengers to the monitored bus stop. The service rate has been modelled using pulse Dirac delta functions. The daily irregularity of operation of a particular bus line at this bus stop has been evaluated and the operation of the system has been modelled as a queueing system, in order to assess the capacity of the bus line and the organisation of work. The type of incoming flow, as well as the service rate has been defined as a non-stationary Poisson flow. A system of differential-algebraic equations has been chosen as a model according to Kolmogorov’s model for stochastic processes. A specific numerical method for solving system differential equations has been devised with Dirac delta functions in the right part of the equations. Under non-stationary conditions, the basic values of the system parameters have been calculated and an application has been created in a MatLab environment. The results are suitable for accurately determining the routing speed and the average waiting time of the passengers at the bus stop. They can also determine the refusal of passengers to wait at the passenger stop.

Spatiotemporal analysis of trajectory for a new real-time bus routes updated model

With the development of location-based service, the wide range of applications of trajectory data obtained by GPS has made great contributions to the analysis of urban buses information. Affected by the increasing quantity of data, filtering out valid GPS trajectory data to update real-time information of urban buses faces new difficulties. In this study, a prototype model named Real-Time Bus Routes Updated model (RT-BRU) is developed to process and mine the GPS trajectory data collected from each urban bus of each interval. The main purpose of this model is to update real-time information of urban bus routes and provide much more realistic public navigation data with the help of trajectory data and geo-statistical tools. Compared to the regular algorithms and Chinese public navigation map data, the experiment results show that the RT-BRU model proposed here can discover more types of urban bus’s updated routes and play better in perspective of GPS points counts, operation time, calculation results, correct results and accuracy.

Multimodal data modeling for efficiency assessment of social priority based urban bus route transportation system using GIS and data envelopment analysis

Multimodal data modeling is fast growing area of research. It may used to combine the information from the different sources. The research interest in multimodal data modeling is increasingly attracting the attention in the field of transportation planning. In this study, multi-modal data is used to assess and design a socially efficient public transport bus route plan for the Allahabad city of Uttar Pradesh state, India. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) method is used for the efficiency assessment of existing 24 public transport bus routes by taking access point to locations of social facilities like as hospitals, shopping malls, colleges, coaching centers, schools, banks and the population, near to the particular route. Geographical Information System (GIS) technology is used for multimodal data modeling to design new more socially efficient routes for the existing roads of the city. DEAP Solver software is used for the evaluation of efficiency and rank for social priority routes and route number 15 and 24 are relative efficient route among the existing 24 routes. Finally, the social efficiency of existing public bus transport routes and newly designed routes are compared. We suggested ways to improve the performance of bus routes based on the social perspectives using multimodal data.

An Operational Analysis and Congestion Estimationof Urban Bus Route Based on ITS

An Operational Analysis and Congestion Estimationof Urban Bus Route Based on ITS

A method of monitoring the level of course-keeping controllability in heavy-duty and urban passenger vehicles and evaluating its influence on traffic safety

Abstract The paper addresses an issue of substantiating the method of monitoring and digital evaluation of the influence of the technical state of automated combined steering systems in heavy-duty and urban passenger vehicles, that use channels of hydraulic booster (HB) steering installed in parallel with a mechanical channel, on traffic safety (TS) and efficiency of vehicle operation in the mileage interval between scheduled technical inspections. It is demonstrated that the maximum value of discrepancy in the HB set by the driver (within the limits of mandatory, functionally set artificial in a spool–sleeve pair, controlling the energy of the external source, i.e. a hydraulic pump) reduced to an angle of steering wheel rotation is negligibly small as compared to the size of the gap in the steering system as a whole; the latter is used to evaluate the compliance of this system with the traffic safety requirements. The specified value of the artificial gap does not exceed one degree in rotation of the steering wheel having an HB of a rotary type; it has a significantly smaller value for axial HBs (where the displacement axis of the spool coincides with the sleeve axis). Given that the value of the gap in the steering system is regulated by state standards and lies within the range of 15–20°, which considerably (more than one order of magnitude) exceeds the artificial HB gap, the contribution of the HB channel into the total gap value in the steering system is negligible, and accountably lies outside the area of operators’ attention. Therefore, a conclusion can be made that the evaluation of the above-mentioned gap, taking into account the physics of the operating HB, should be carried out according to other criteria that are not related to gauging the gap. It is shown that the feedback from drivers complaining on growing labor intensity of driving cars having HBs and long mileage, complying with the effective state Standard requirements under the current manufacturing technology can be used to substantiate the limit state indicator for steering systems using the criterion of vehicle controllability reflecting the level of the psychophysiological load. The paper demonstrates that the current practice of monitoring (preventing) the onset of reaching the limit technical state by the HB, assessed by the value of allowable drop of fluid pressure in the hydraulic system (relative to the pressure set by the limiting controller) detects the defect with delay exceeding a 100.000 km mileage with respect to the moment of evaluating the admissible controllability level determined by the driver according to his/her individual psychophysiological load. The paper reports results of bench tests of HBs having various mileage and results of road tests carried out using large capacity buses having HBs differing in mileage on an actual urban route. A mechanism of correspondence between HB parameters and the bus mileage with the level of the driver’s psychophysiological load and the energy spent by a driver to drive a vehicle, which allows estimating limit states against the criterion of vehicle controllability, as well as estimating financial losses of a company operating urban bus routes when the level of the actual driver’s load exceeds the allowable level.