scholarly journals Optimization Model for Reserve Fleet Sizes in Traditional Transit Systems considering the Risk of Vehicle Breakdowns

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bowen Hou ◽  
Shuzhi Zhao ◽  
Huasheng Liu ◽  
Jin Li
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Model ◽  
Queueing Theory ◽  
Solution Method ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
User Costs ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Optimized Model ◽  
In Transit

Traditional transit systems are susceptible to unexpected costs and delays due to unforeseen events, such as vehicle breakdowns. The randomness of these events gives the appearance of an imbalance in the number of operating vehicles and of unreliable transit services. Therefore, this paper proposes the queueing theory as a means to characterize the state of any given transit system considering the risk of vehicle breakdowns. In addition, the proposed method is used to create an optimized model for reserve fleet sizes in transit systems, in order to ensure the reliability of the transit system and minimize the total cost of any transit system exposed to the risks of vehicle breakdowns. The optimization is conducted based on the two main characteristics of all bus systems, namely, operator costs and user costs, in both normal and disruptive situations. In addition, the situations in our optimization are generated in scenarios that have a certain degree of probability of experiencing delays. This paper formulates such an optimization model, presents the formulation solution method, and proves the validity of the proposed method.

Integration of Paratransit and Transit Services: Importance of Vehicle Transfer Requirements to Consumers

1997 ◽  
Vol 1571 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
John N. Balog ◽  
John B. Morrison ◽  
Mark M. Hood
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Americans With Disabilities Act ◽  
Wait Time ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Bus Stop ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Minimize Costs

The integration of paratransit and transit services is necessary in order to fully achieve the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Many individuals with disabilities can use accessible fixed-route vehicles but do not because they are unable to get from their origin to an accessible bus stop. Using paratransit as a feeder service to the fixed-route system can minimize the total cost to the transit system of providing services to this segment of the population. It must be understood, however, that transferring patrons from one vehicle to another is undesirable to consumers. This is documented by the results of three studies covering a variety of locations across the United States. The surveys showed that a number of market categories of consumers ranked no transfers between vehicles as the No. 1 service feature that was necessary to attract them to the fixed-route system. Of 16 market categories, all determined no transfers to possess a positive utility for attracting them to fixed-route services. To satisfy consumer needs and to minimize costs to transit authorities, the negative characteristics of vehicle transfers must be mitigated through design. This can be done by providing timed transfers at designated points so that wait time is eliminated or minimized. Such transfer points must also be protected from the difficulties of poor weather conditions and must be well-lighted and secure. The provision of aids to assist in the transfer may also be necessary.

Reshaping the Region

2015 ◽  
Vol 2537 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41
Author(s):  
Stephanie Pollack ◽  
Anna Gartsman ◽  
Timothy Reardon ◽  
Meghna Hari
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Travel Behavior ◽  
Massachusetts Bay ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Commuter Rail ◽  
In Transit ◽  
The Impact

The American Public Transportation Association's use of a “land use multiplier” as part of its methodology for calculating greenhouse gas reduction from transit has increased interest in methodologies that quantify the impact of transit systems on land use and vehicle miles traveled. Such transit leverage, however, is frequently evaluated for urbanized areas, although transit systems serve only a small proportion of those areas. If transit leverage is stronger in areas closer to transit stations, studies based on larger geographies may underestimate land use and travel behavior effects in transit-served areas. A geographic information system–based data set was developed to understand better the leverage effects associated with the mature and extensive Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority transit system in areas proximate to its stations throughout Metropolitan Boston. The region was divided into the subregion that was transit-proximate (within a half mile of a rapid transit station or key bus route), the portion that was commuter rail–proximate, and the remaining 93.3% of the region that was not proximate to high-frequency transit. Households in the transit-proximate subregion were significantly more likely to commute by transit (and walking or biking), less likely to own a car, and drove fewer miles than households in the non-transit-served areas of the region. Commuter rail–proximate areas, although denser than the region as a whole, exhibited more driving and car ownership than regional averages. Given these spatial and modal variations, future efforts to understand transit leverage should separately evaluate land use and travel effects by mode and proximity to transit stations.

scholarly journals A Novel Trip Coverage Index for Transit Accessibility Assessment Using Mobile Phone Data

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengyi Cai ◽  
Dianhai Wang ◽  
Xiqun (Michael) Chen
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Base Stations ◽  
Mobile Phone Data ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
The Public ◽  
Transit Accessibility ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
The Individual

Transit accessibility is an important measure on the service performance of transit systems. To assess whether the public transit service is well accessible for trips of specific origins, destinations, and origin-destination (OD) pairs, a novel measure, the Trip Coverage Index (TCI), is proposed in this paper. TCI considers both the transit trip coverage and spatial distribution of individual travel demands. Massive trips between cellular base stations are estimated by using over four-million mobile phone users. An easy-to-implement method is also developed to extract the transit information and driving routes for millions of requests. Then the trip coverage of each OD pair is calculated. For demonstrative purposes, TCI is applied to the transit network of Hangzhou, China. The results show that TCI represents the better transit trip coverage and provides a more powerful assessment tool of transit quality of service. Since the calculation is based on trips of all modes, but not only the transit trips, TCI offers an overall accessibility for the transit system performance. It enables decision makers to assess transit accessibility in a finer-grained manner on the individual trip level and can be well transformed to measure transit services of other cities.

Benchmarking and improving mass transit systems in the United States based on best-in class practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 172-193
Author(s):  
Hokey Min ◽  
Young-Hyo Ahn ◽  
Thomas Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Municipal Government ◽  
Mass Transit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tobit Regression ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
The Usa

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find ways to develop more efficient mass transit systems across the USA and, thus, make the best use of state/federal/municipal government funds and taxpayers’ monies. This paper conducts benchmarking studies. In doing so, this paper identifies the best-in class mass transit practices that every regional mass transit system can emulate. Design/methodology/approach The continuous underutilization of a mass transit system can increase public scrutiny concerning the increased investment in mass transit services. To defuse such scrutiny, this paper analyzes the past (in year 2011) performances of 515 mass transit agencies in the USA using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Also, to identify which factors influences those performances, the authors paired DEA scores for transit efficiency at the state level against a set of independent variables using a special form of regression analysis called Tobit regression. Findings The authors found that the greater population density of the service area, the greater number of riders can be served in a short amount of distance and time. Also, the authors discovered that the transportation mode of mass transit services could affect mass transit efficiency. On the other hand, the authors found no evidence indicating that the public ownership or private operation of transit systems could make any differences in the transit efficiency. Originality/value This paper is one of the few that assessed the performance of mass transit systems in comparison to their peers using a large-scale data and identify the leading causes of mass transit inefficiency. Thus, this paper helps transit authorities in handling juggling acts of protecting the conflicting interests of government policy makers against the general public and, then, make sensible future investment decisions.

scholarly journals TRUSTS: Scheduling Randomized Patrols for Fare Inspection in Transit Systems Using Game Theory

AI Magazine ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengyu Yin ◽  
Albert Xin Jiang ◽  
Milind Tambe ◽  
Christopher Kiekintveld ◽  
Kevin Leyton-Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Stackelberg Game ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
Sheriff's Department ◽  
Patrol Strategies ◽  
In Transit ◽  
Fare Evasion

In proof-of-payment transit systems, passengers are legally required to purchase tickets before entering but are not physically forced to do so. Instead, patrol units move about the transit system, inspecting the tickets of passengers, who face fines if caught fare evading. The deterrence of fare evasion depends on the unpredictability and effectiveness of the patrols. In this paper, we present TRUSTS, an application for scheduling randomized patrols for fare inspection in transit systems. TRUSTS models the problem of computing patrol strategies as a leader-follower Stackelberg game where the objective is to deter fare evasion and hence maximize revenue. This problem differs from previously studied Stackelberg settings in that the leader strategies must satisfy massive temporal and spatial constraints; moreover, unlike in these counterterrorism-motivated Stackelberg applications, a large fraction of the ridership might realistically consider fare evasion, and so the number of followers is potentially huge. A third key novelty in our work is deliberate simplification of leader strategies to make patrols easier to be executed. We present an efficient algorithm for computing such patrol strategies and present experimental results using real-world ridership data from the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department is currently carrying out trials of TRUSTS.

Transit User Perceptions of the Benefits of Automatic Vehicle Location

2002 ◽  
Vol 1791 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhong-Ren Peng ◽  
Danlin Yu ◽  
Edward Beimborn
Keyword(s):  
Automatic Vehicle Location ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
User Perceptions ◽  
Time Performance ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
Attitudinal Survey ◽  
Vehicle Location ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Schedule Reliability

An attitudinal survey on transit riders’ perception of the importance transit users place on features of an automatic vehicle location (AVL) system is reported. Onboard surveys and on-time field checks were conducted in the cities of Manitowoc and Racine, Wisconsin, to determine how users in those cities perceive their transit systems and how well each transit system performs. The surveys indicate that transit riders put a great value on increased on-time performance and improved schedule reliability. Passengers value features that AVL technology could bring, such as improving on-time performance, knowing when the next bus will arrive, knowing how long the delay is in case of delay, and knowing that another bus could be dispatched in case of breakdown. The surveys indicate that AVL technology could improve transit services and add value to passengers. The survey also found the expected ridership increase resulting from the AVL technology to be moderate. On-time performance surveys conducted in each city indicate that transit services in these communities generally operate on time at the route level. Although there are bigger variations at the timepoint level, transit services are usually on time. The implementation of AVL could further improve on-time performance, but maybe only marginally.

scholarly journals Parameters Optimization Model and Solution Method Based on 3D Manufacturable Units

2021 ◽  
Vol 1748 ◽  
pp. 052052
Author(s):  
Zhenming Tao ◽  
Zhixiong Zhang ◽  
Zirong Luo ◽  
Li Tang ◽  
Lijun He
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Model ◽  
Solution Method ◽  
Parameters Optimization

Simulation-based vulnerability assessment in transit systems with cascade failures

2021 ◽  
Vol 295 ◽  
pp. 126441
Author(s):  
Hongyu Chen ◽  
Limao Zhang ◽  
Qiong Liu ◽  
Hongtao Wang ◽  
Xiaosong Dai
Keyword(s):  
Vulnerability Assessment ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Simulation Based ◽  
In Transit

Continuous Approximation Model for Hybrid Flexible Transit Systems with Low Demand Density

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812199713
Author(s):  
Charalampos Sipetas ◽  
Eric J. Gonzales
Keyword(s):  
Agency Cost ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Optimization Process ◽  
Analytical Models ◽  
Continuous Approximation ◽  
Flexible Systems ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Approximation Techniques ◽  
Service Areas

Flexible transit systems are a way to address challenges associated with conventional fixed route and fully demand responsive systems. Existing studies indicate that such systems are often planned and designed without established guidelines, and optimization techniques are rarely implemented on actual flexible systems. This study presents a hybrid transit system where the degree of flexibility can vary from a fixed route service (with no flexibility) to a fully flexible transit system. Such a system is expected to be beneficial in areas where the best transit solution lies between the fixed route and fully flexible systems. Continuous approximation techniques are implemented to model and optimize the stop spacing on a fixed route corridor, as well as the boundaries of the flexible region in a corridor. Both user and agency costs are considered in the optimization process. A numerical analysis compares various service areas and demand densities using input variables with magnitudes similar to those of real-world case studies. Sensitivity analysis is performed for service headway, percent of demand served curb-to-curb, and user and agency cost weights in the optimization process. The analytical models are evaluated through simulations. The hybrid system proposed here achieves estimated user benefits of up to 35% when compared with fixed route systems, under different case scenarios. Flexible systems are particularly beneficial for serving corridors with low or uncertain demand. This provides value for corridors with low demand density as well as communities in which transit ridership has dropped significantly because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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