scholarly journals Evaluating accessibility of small communities via public transit

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 59-72
Author(s):  
Antonio Danesi ◽  
Simone Tengattini

Accessibility to and from urban centres allows small communities’ dwellers to participate in primary activities and use essential services that are not available on-site, such as educational, work and medical services. Public transport networks are supposed to enhance accessibility and pursue equity principles, overcoming socio-economical differences among people that can exacerbate during crisis. In this paper a methodology is proposed and implemented to assess small communities’ accessibility via public transit. A metric is defined based on the calculation of total travel time, taken as a proxy of travel impedance, with consideration of in-vehicle time, schedule delay and users’ arrival and departure preference curves (i.e. time-of-day functions). A “rooftops” model is specified and implemented under the assumption that travellers cannot accept (scheduled) late arrival or early departure time penalties before and after the participation in their activities in the main urban centre, as many activities rarely admit time-flexibility. Also, a public transport specific impedance factor (PTSIF) is proposed, in order to account for travel impedance determinants, which are a consequence of service scheduling and routing decisions and not due to inherent geographical and infrastructural disadvantages affecting car users too. An application of the methodology for the city of Cesena, Italy, and 90 surrounding small communities is presented. The city is served by train and bus services. Assessment of small communities' accessibility based on both total travel time and PTSIF is presented and discussed. This practice-ready quantitative method can help transport professionals to evaluate impacts on small communities’ accessibility in light of public transport service changes or reduction. Quantitative approach to support strategic decisions is needed, for example, both to assess public transport strengthening politics against depopulation of rural and marginal mountainous areas and to mitigate the effects of possible increasing concentration of services towards high-demand lines, which may follow as a consequence of budget cuts or contingencies, such as vehicle capacity reductions required by sanitary emergencies.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Borowska-Stefańska ◽  
Szymon Wiśniewski

In this article, the goal was to assess spatial accessibility to the parks in Łódż for example of cycling, individual transport and public transport. Parks represent basic units of recreational greenery in the city. (Czerwieniec, Lewińska 2000). In Łódź are 43 parks, which are located mainly in the rail peripheral or right behind her (Jakóbczyk-Gryszkiewicz 2008). To determine the spatial accessibility to the parks in the analyzed city, were calculated the number and percentage of the population, which living in 2016 in isochrones: 0-5; 5-10; 10-15; 15-20; 20-25; 25-30 minutes from the parks. In the study were taken into account the different means of transport - car, bicycle and public. It was found that the most beneficial for the residents of the city is by bike. In the case of 3/4 of the population of Łódż travel time by bike to the park is less than 5 minutes. Bicycle and public transport provide access to the parks, the vast majority of inhabitants of the city in time to 5 minutes, while individual transport in time 5-10 minutes. Most preferably, due to the accessibility for the residents of the city, are located parks in the city center, and behind its borders, in turn, within the rail perimeter. Over there the population density is greatest, unfortunately, a small area of parks.


Author(s):  
Olha Pronina

A methodology has been developed for assessing public transport passenger traffic in the city. A mathematical model based on fuzzy logic is presented. The main criteria for assessing the attractiveness of passenger traffic are: the interval between vehicles, technical condition of the vehicle, route length, time of day. In the mathematical model, all input linguistic variables and output variable, their terms and membership functions are described. A fragment of a fuzzy knowledge base presented in the form of production rules is presented. At the exit, the dispatcher receives an output variable – the degree of confidence in the attractiveness of the route. Based on this assessment, the dispatcher can make a number of necessary changes to improve the functioning of the route. The software is implemented as a web service. This software will be convenient for dispatchers to use for planning public transport routes. Fifteen selected routes were taken for research, which are the most popular in the city. These routes were proposed for evaluation by three controllers. The results obtained from dispatchers were compared with the results of the fuzzy inference implemented in the software. The main advantage of using this software product is the ability to build a dynamic schedule based on the analysis of the dispatcher. This, in turn, will allow passengers to receive a better transportation service within the city


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Oviedo ◽  
Lynn Scholl ◽  
Marco Innao ◽  
Lauramaria Pedraza

Investments in public transit infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean often aim to reduce spatial and social inequalities by improving accessibility to jobs and other opportunities for vulnerable populations. One of the central goals of Lima’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project was to connect low-income populations living in the peripheries to jobs in the city center, a policy objective that has not yet been evaluated. Building on secondary datasets of employment, household socio-demographics and origin–destination surveys before and after the BRT began operations, this paper examines the contribution of Lima’s BRT system to accessibility to employment in the city, particularly for low-income public transit users. We estimated the effects on potential accessibility to employment, comparing impacts on lower versus higher income populations, and assessed the changes in location-based accessibility to employment before (2004) and after implementation (2012) for treatment and comparison groups. We found that the BRT line reduced travel times for commuters to reach jobs, in comparison with traditional public transport in the city. However, the coverage of the BRT declines in areas with high concentrations of poor populations, limiting the equitability of accessibility improvements. The analysis by socioeconomic sub-groups found positive effects of the BRT system on accessibility for the higher income areas. Relative to the control group, accessibility increased in the 10-km boundary area of the BRT by 0.01, a seven percent increase relative to the treatment baseline accessibility index in the higher socioeconomic (SES) areas of the city. In contrast, in the areas with high concentrations of lower SES populations, the double difference estimate indicated an 11 percent decrease relative to the baseline accessibility index (0.09). We build on case-specific findings and international literature to reflect on policy avenues to include the poor in the mobility benefits of BRT systems. These measures include targeted fare subsidies for low-income groups, fare integration with other forms of public transport that reduce the cost of transfers, and the increase of coverage of the BRT through the integration of stations with non-motorized infrastructure.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Yang ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Shuyan Chen ◽  
Haoyang Ding ◽  
Xiaowei Li

Bus travel time on road section is defined and analyzed with the effect of multiple bus lines. An analytical model is formulated to calculate the total red time a bus encounters when travelling along the arterial. Genetic algorithm is used to optimize the offset scheme of traffic signals to minimize the total red time that all bus lines encounter in two directions of the arterial. The model and algorithm are applied to the major part ofZhongshan NorthStreet in the city of Nanjing. The results show that the methods in this paper can reduce total red time of all the bus lines by 31.9% on the object arterial and thus improve the traffic efficiency of the whole arterial and promote public transport priority.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Fix ◽  
Giovani Espíndola Ribeiro ◽  
André Doca Prado

Resumo: Neste artigo, apresentamos e discutimos uma entrevista realizada, em 2015, com Lúcio Gregori, proponente da Tarifa Zero em São Paulo. Buscamos compreender o surgimento da proposta, nos anos 1990, e seus desdobramentos. Para tanto, são analisadas algumas das manifestações de apoio e resistência à aprovação da proposta, assim como sua formulação técnica, os jogos de interesses nela envolvidos e as modalidades de financiamento que a viabilizariam. São examinadas, igualmente, as características do “negócio” do transporte e das empresas que atuam em tal setor. Situamos a proposta da Tarifa Zero no debate sobre mobilidade urbana, relacionando-a com a luta pelo Direito à Cidade. Além disso, discutimos a hegemonia do transporte individual privado e algumas de suas consequências.Palavras-chave: mobilidade urbana; tarifa zero; direito à cidade; ônibus; transporte coletivo. Urban mobility and the right to the city: an interview with Lucio Gregori on (free) public transportAbstract: In this article, we present and discuss an interview with Lúcio Gregori, in 2015, the proposer of the Tarifa Zero (Zero-Fare Public Transit) Bill. We seek to understand the emergence of the proposal, in the 1990s, and its consequences. Therefore, we discuss some of the expressions of support and resistance to the adoption of the proposal, as well as its technical formulation, the power games involved, and the financing arrangements that would allow it. The characteristics of the “business” of transport and of the companies operating in this sector are also examined. We situate the proposal of Zero-Fare in the debate on urban mobility, linking it to the struggle for the right to the city. In addition, we discuss the hegemony of private individual transport and some of its consequences.Keywords: urban mobility; Zero-Fare; right to the city; bus; public transport.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrik Berggren ◽  
Karin Brundell-Freij ◽  
Helena Svensson ◽  
Anders Wretstrand

AbstractWaiting times are important indicators of the degree of travel time optimisation and other behavioural traits among public transport (PT) passengers. As previous studies have shown, the level and usage of pre-trip information regarding schedule or real-time departures are important factors that influence the potential to realise travel time savings by enabling PT passengers to optimise waiting times. Most empirical evidence regarding the revealed PT travel behaviour concerning information levels is based on manual interviews or traditional travel surveys, in which there is a risk that the actual context of where and when the choice of departure time was made is not taken into account. This paper reports the results of a travel survey based on a dedicated smartphone application applied in a field study in a Swedish mid-size urban and regional context. Context-aware notification prompting was used to allow respondents to state their use of pre-trip information as well as whether they had pre-planned their trip and how contingent planning aids were used for time optimisation. The implications on passenger waiting times of the use of information regarding departure times by passengers were emphasised during analyses of the resulting data, along with personal characteristics, in which auxiliary sources such as timetable data and Automatic Vehicle Location were utilised to determine ground truth trip trajectories and trip-contextual factors. The results indicate the significance of having access to pre-trip information, especially for long trips above one hour’s duration, in order to pre-plan and thereby optimise waiting times. In addition, the use and source of pre-trip information differ among age and gender groups. Trip purpose and time of day to some extent determine waiting times and choice of trip optimisation strategy (arrival or departure time).


Author(s):  
Sang-Wook Han ◽  
Eun Hak Lee ◽  
Dong-Kyu Kim

With the rise of urban sprawl, urban railways extend out further to the city’s outer district, installing additional stations. Passengers who travel from the outer district to the center of the city therefore experience long travel times. Although skip-stop strategy helps save total travel time, deviation of travel time among all origin–destination pairs may be increased, leading to equity problems. This study aims to minimize the inequity and total travel time through train stop planning and train scheduling. A coefficient of variation is adopted as a measure of inequity. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective mixed integer nonlinear programming model. Origin–destination demand is extracted from smartcard data and a case study of four urban railway lines in Seoul is conducted. The results indicate that the number of transfer stations for equity-oriented skip-stop strategy is smaller than that for total-travel-time-oriented skip-stop strategy. We also discover that as the number of transfer stations rises, inequity increases and total travel time is reduced. For skip-stop strategy considering total travel time and equity simultaneously, average total travel time and the average deviation are reduced by up to 10.3% and 10.6%, respectively, compared with those of all-stop strategy. We analyze the gradient of Pareto optimal sets to find out which factors (equity or total travel time) are more significant. Skip-stop strategy on lines 5 and 9 can be designed based on equity, while line 4 can be planned based on total travel time.


Author(s):  
Jens Klinker ◽  
Mohamed Hechem Selmi ◽  
Mariana Avezum ◽  
Stephan Jonas

Reducing passenger flow through highly frequented bottlenecks in public transportation networks is a well-known urban planning problem. This issue has become even more relevant since the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the necessity for minimum distances between passengers. We propose an approach that allows to dynamically navigate passengers around dangerously crowded stations to better distribute the passenger load across an entire urban public transport network. This is achieved through the introduction of new constraints into routing requests, that enable the avoidance of specific nodes in a network. These requests consider walks, bikes, metros, subways, trams and buses as possible modes of transportation. An implementation of the approach is provided in cooperation with the Munich Travel Corporation (MVG) for the city of Munich, to simulate the effects on a real city’s urban traffic flow. Among other factors, the impact on the travel time was simulated given that the two major exchange points in the network were to be avoided. With an increase from 26.5 to 26.8 minutes on the average travel time, the simulation suggests that the time penalty might be worth the safety benefits.


Author(s):  
Saroj Baral ◽  
Prem Nath Bastola

This research presents studies on a segment of highway to determine the quantitative factors that inuence transit services. Travel time and delay study is one of the method to determine quantitative factors. Tour time is described as the average period of time required to journey from one region to some other. Total departure time consists of gadgets which include total working time, places and general delay time. The examine section was done in Prithvi chowk to Tal chowk of Prithvi Highway which is turned to be 12.5 km long. Additionally, it has been found that the principle variables affecting travel time are: postpone time because of forestall selecting and choosing up passengers, bus model and bus size.32 trips public transport carrier and a 10 trips non-public automobile journey have been held during peak hours. Models are developed the use of SPSS software to become aware of the relationship between the causes of delays and the overall-time delays. Travel time and learning delays can help reduce the number of private vehicles operating and increase the number of public vehicles in order to reduce congestion and improve the e efficiency of the public transport system. It turned into determined that there was a full-size distinction in tour time among the use of the public transit services and the car.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4820
Author(s):  
Luka Novačko ◽  
Karlo Babojelić ◽  
Luka Dedić ◽  
Tomislav Rožić

Prioritizing public transport is one of the most effective measure to increase the attractiveness and competitiveness of public transport in relation to individual vehicles. The main goal of this study was to examine the possibilities for reducing the travel time of tram vehicles by giving priority at signalized intersections in terms of sharing the traffic lane with personal vehicles and under conditions of strong conflict flows with private transport. For this purpose, we used the simulation tool VISSIM and its module EPICS. A methodology for determining weighting factors for prioritizing public transport flows was developed based on conflicting passenger flows in public transport vehicles and passenger cars. Three scenarios were tested in the study area: (1) “do nothing”; (2) unconditional priority; and (3) conditional priority. The results showed that unconditional priority led to unsustainable traffic conditions for personal vehicles and public transport. In contrast, conditional priority reduced the travel time of public transport on certain corridors by between 7.64% and 18.76% in the morning peak period, and 5.60% to 22.50% in the afternoon peak period.


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