An Optimal Transit Fare and Frequency Design Model with Equity Impact Constraints
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 147, Issue 12
Abstract
Distance-based fares have been applied widely in practice using automatic fare collection technology. This paper proposes an optimization model for the distance-based transit fare structure. A bilevel model was formulated to obtain the optimal fare functions with the aim of minimizing the Gini coefficient of the entire transit system. Passengers’ travel behavior is modeled by a stochastic transit assignment problem in the lower level. Considering the inherent complexity of the bilevel model, a heuristic algorithm, namely the artificial bee colony algorithm, is applied, which is incorporated with a method of successive averages to solve the transit assignment subproblem. The results show that the Euclidean distance–based fare has better performance in terms of social equity, but it is less equitable for passengers with middistance trips.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This study is supported by the Ministry of Education (China) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (No. 20YJAZH083).
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Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 147 • Issue 12 • December 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 20, 2021
Accepted: Aug 31, 2021
Published online: Oct 8, 2021
Published in print: Dec 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Mar 8, 2022
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