01662531

Component

With the background of hyper-urbanization and jobs-housing imbalance in Beijing and other megacities in China, this study aims to develop a systematic method of planning effective and efficient rapid transit services for long-distance commuters. Taking the Express Bus Services (EBS) in the Changping Corridor in Beijing as an example, this study presents an algorithm to design and optimize the route layout of long-distance express bus lines. Mobile Phone Location (MPL) data attained from the major operator serve as a valid foundation for this study, which provides a new perspective for spatiotemporally analyzing the commuters’ travel demands. The Origin-Destination (OD) matrices distribution is specified via geocoding the MPL data. For maximizing the efficiency of the EBS lines, this study distinguishes long-distance commuting trips among the set of OD matrices by defining the operation distance threshold, which is calculated from the comparison between EBS travel time and the travel time on regular local buses and private cars. Using this threshold and several prerequisite parameters, this study conducts an iterative computing process with a series of equations. The locations of all stations and the layout of the routes are determined through this process. Compared with regular local buses, the planned EBL lines can reduce the aggregated travel time by 20% on average. These results demonstrate that the algorithm presented in this study is applicable and maneuverable. It leads to new research directions for optimization of long-distance commuter bus networks. The limitation of this study and the future research agenda are also discussed.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP025 Standing Committee on Public Transportation Planning and Development.

18-00554

English

21p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Algorithms; Bus routes; Commuter service; Express buses; Location; Mobile telephones; Optimization; Origin and destination; Travel time

Long distance bus service

Changping District (China)

Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-00554

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 10:09AM