Optimizing limited-stop bus services along a public transit corridor with a differential fare structure

Limited-stop bus services are a highly efficient way to release more potential of the public transit system to meet travel demand, especially under constraints on vehicle fleet size and transportation infrastructure. This work first proposes a visualized fare table for the design of limited-stop bus...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chunyan Tang, Ying-En Ge, William H. K. Lam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Vilnius Gediminas Technical University 2019-10-01
Series:Transport
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.vgtu.lt/index.php/Transport/article/view/11235
_version_ 1818730138709262336
author Chunyan Tang
Ying-En Ge
William H. K. Lam
author_facet Chunyan Tang
Ying-En Ge
William H. K. Lam
author_sort Chunyan Tang
collection DOAJ
description Limited-stop bus services are a highly efficient way to release more potential of the public transit system to meet travel demand, especially under constraints on vehicle fleet size and transportation infrastructure. This work first proposes a visualized fare table for the design of limited-stop bus services along a public transit corridor, along which many lines of public transit carry a heavy load of demand back and forth every working day. Based on this proposed fare table, a set of fare strategies and desired aims of fare policy, a differentiated fare structure is established to improve social equity and increase revenue. The nature of the structure can help travellers understand how to be charged between their origins and destinations (e.g. flat, time-based, stop-based or quality-based pricing) and then plan their trips efficiently. Secondly, a model is formulated to minimize the total social cost in designing a fixed demand limited-stop bus service system with a differentiated fare structure. Thirdly, numerical results are carried out with sensitivity analysis within three scenarios of differentiated fare structures. It is found that a differentiated fare structure has a great effect on passenger path choice behaviour and resulting optimal design of bus services. An attractive feature of this differentiated fare structure is that it could not only enhance the operator’s revenue and social equity but also reduce passenger transfers and social cost.
first_indexed 2024-12-17T22:57:01Z
format Article
id doaj.art-2debca822e7e484ab3b42a7297a94b01
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1648-4142
1648-3480
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-17T22:57:01Z
publishDate 2019-10-01
publisher Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
record_format Article
series Transport
spelling doaj.art-2debca822e7e484ab3b42a7297a94b012022-12-21T21:29:31ZengVilnius Gediminas Technical UniversityTransport1648-41421648-34802019-10-0134447648910.3846/transport.2019.1123511235Optimizing limited-stop bus services along a public transit corridor with a differential fare structureChunyan Tang0Ying-En Ge1William H. K. Lam2College of Transportation Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, ChinaCollege of Transport and Communications, Shanghai Maritime University, ChinaDept of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, ChinaLimited-stop bus services are a highly efficient way to release more potential of the public transit system to meet travel demand, especially under constraints on vehicle fleet size and transportation infrastructure. This work first proposes a visualized fare table for the design of limited-stop bus services along a public transit corridor, along which many lines of public transit carry a heavy load of demand back and forth every working day. Based on this proposed fare table, a set of fare strategies and desired aims of fare policy, a differentiated fare structure is established to improve social equity and increase revenue. The nature of the structure can help travellers understand how to be charged between their origins and destinations (e.g. flat, time-based, stop-based or quality-based pricing) and then plan their trips efficiently. Secondly, a model is formulated to minimize the total social cost in designing a fixed demand limited-stop bus service system with a differentiated fare structure. Thirdly, numerical results are carried out with sensitivity analysis within three scenarios of differentiated fare structures. It is found that a differentiated fare structure has a great effect on passenger path choice behaviour and resulting optimal design of bus services. An attractive feature of this differentiated fare structure is that it could not only enhance the operator’s revenue and social equity but also reduce passenger transfers and social cost.https://journals.vgtu.lt/index.php/Transport/article/view/11235public transitlimited-stop bus servicedifferentiated fare structuresocial costenvironmental improvement
spellingShingle Chunyan Tang
Ying-En Ge
William H. K. Lam
Optimizing limited-stop bus services along a public transit corridor with a differential fare structure
Transport
public transit
limited-stop bus service
differentiated fare structure
social cost
environmental improvement
title Optimizing limited-stop bus services along a public transit corridor with a differential fare structure
title_full Optimizing limited-stop bus services along a public transit corridor with a differential fare structure
title_fullStr Optimizing limited-stop bus services along a public transit corridor with a differential fare structure
title_full_unstemmed Optimizing limited-stop bus services along a public transit corridor with a differential fare structure
title_short Optimizing limited-stop bus services along a public transit corridor with a differential fare structure
title_sort optimizing limited stop bus services along a public transit corridor with a differential fare structure
topic public transit
limited-stop bus service
differentiated fare structure
social cost
environmental improvement
url https://journals.vgtu.lt/index.php/Transport/article/view/11235
work_keys_str_mv AT chunyantang optimizinglimitedstopbusservicesalongapublictransitcorridorwithadifferentialfarestructure
AT yingenge optimizinglimitedstopbusservicesalongapublictransitcorridorwithadifferentialfarestructure
AT williamhklam optimizinglimitedstopbusservicesalongapublictransitcorridorwithadifferentialfarestructure