Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Passenger Flow Based on an Interdependent Metro-Bus Network

Previous studies have focused primarily on analyzing single transportation networks, despite the fact that many cities have multimodal public transportation systems, and passenger flows of the modes interact with each other. This paper introduces an attraction weight coefficient method to estimate passenger flows in an interdependent metro-bus network, and analyzes the spatio-temporal associations of passenger flows. Using seven metro lines and five bus lines in Nanjing as a case study, we find that most passengers prefer metro to bus in the bimodal metro-bus network. Additionally, people choose metro trips more during the morning peak hours than evening peak hours, as some metro passengers shift to bus during evening peak hours. This attraction weight coefficient and the interdependent network methods will contribute to the understanding of passenger travel patterns and provide a reliable approach for future multimodal passenger flow analysis.