Comprehensive Approach to Transfer Synchronization in Public Transit
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 146, Issue 4
Abstract
The dynamic and uncertain characters of traffic often make bus schedules erratic; therefore, planned synchronized public transit transfers do not always materialize. This research aims at reducing the operational deviation of buses, and thus increasing arrival reliability of vehicles as well as improving the occurrence of direct transfer. To achieve this objective, a mathematical model is developed to calculate the recommended parameters of real-time bus operation strategies according to real-time arrival time deviation data. A case study is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in practice. Results illustrate that adopting this approach reduces the probability of bus bunching from 8.33% to 0, and increases the operational reliability of vehicles, although transit vehicles have a larger delay. Moreover, direct transfer can be guaranteed with our proposed approach.
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Acknowledgments
The study is supported by the key project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.51338003 and 51478112), the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (No. SS2014AA110303), and the China Scholarship Council. The study visit of Mr. Wu to the Institute of Transport Studies is also supported by Monash University.
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©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Apr 26, 2017
Accepted: Jul 1, 2019
Published online: Feb 4, 2020
Published in print: Apr 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Jul 4, 2020
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