Transit service indicators for alternative route structure analysis

Authors:
Timothy F. Welch;Sabyasachee Mishra;Manoj K. Jha
Affiliations:
National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, University of Maryland, College Park, MD;National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, University of Maryland, College Park, MD;Department of Civil Engineering, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland
Venue:
AMERICAN-MATH'12/CEA'12 Proceedings of the 6th WSEAS international conference on Computer Engineering and Applications, and Proceedings of the 2012 American conference on Applied Mathematics
Year:
2012

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Abstract

This paper proposes a unique approach to measuring transit system performance, particularly as it relates to network connectivity. The method developed incorporates a graph theoretic approach to determine the performance of alternative transit network structures by quantifying measures of connectivity at the node, line, zone, and regional level. The method is then applied to a case study of alternative routes implemented in 2011 by StarMetro, the public transit authority in Tallahassee, Florida. The study compares level of service between an old centralized route structure and a new decentralized network. The results of the paper indicate that the decentralized transit system reduced overall regional network connectivity by nearly 40%. While the new transit structure generally underperforms at all levels, the results also provide insight on how network performance can be improved with limited resources. The method presented in this paper provides a framework for planners and policy-makers to quickly and efficiently determine the quality of service resulting from proposed transit network changes and provides new tools for transit service planning.