Development of Fuzzy Level of Service Criteria for Bus Rapid Transit considering User Heterogeneities in China

Level of service (LOS) analysis based on LOS criteria is essential for the planning, design, and operational evaluation of public transit. However, there are no systematic transit LOS criteria at present in China. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is receiving increasing attention worldwide. Therefore, this s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yueying Huo, Jianrong Liu, Jian Zhang, Xiaojuan Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:Journal of Advanced Transportation
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8844590
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832547085276151808
author Yueying Huo
Jianrong Liu
Jian Zhang
Xiaojuan Li
author_facet Yueying Huo
Jianrong Liu
Jian Zhang
Xiaojuan Li
author_sort Yueying Huo
collection DOAJ
description Level of service (LOS) analysis based on LOS criteria is essential for the planning, design, and operational evaluation of public transit. However, there are no systematic transit LOS criteria at present in China. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is receiving increasing attention worldwide. Therefore, this study addresses LOS criteria for BRT in China. Transit passengers are heterogeneous in their perceptions, needs, and behavior. The traditional hard LOS criteria have an inherent weakness, because of which the accuracy of an LOS analysis is limited. Thus, in this study, we initially conducted transit market segmentation to reduce heterogeneity and subsequently developed BRT fuzzy LOS criteria for different passenger groups. Using a smartphone-based transit travel survey system, we organized BRT passenger travel surveys on three BRT systems in China to collect data. Transit market segmentation was performed based on user perceptions; passengers were segmented into a calm passenger group and an anxious passenger group using the latent class model. Passenger arrival time, passenger wait time, and running speed of the bus were selected as service metrics to reflect the BRT’s LOS. BRT fuzzy LOS criteria for the three service metrics in the case of both the calm and anxious passenger groups were developed using fuzzy C-means clustering. The LOS criteria for the two groups of passengers fit their psychological characteristics and reflected their personalized travel needs. Fuzzy LOS criteria can describe to what extent service metric values belong to the adjacent LOS categories via the use of membership. Thus, fuzzy LOS criteria can overcome the weakness of hard LOS criteria.
format Article
id doaj-art-7212a4b4117c414784728f6ae996ec1d
institution Kabale University
issn 0197-6729
2042-3195
language English
publishDate 2020-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Journal of Advanced Transportation
spelling doaj-art-7212a4b4117c414784728f6ae996ec1d2025-02-03T06:46:08ZengWileyJournal of Advanced Transportation0197-67292042-31952020-01-01202010.1155/2020/88445908844590Development of Fuzzy Level of Service Criteria for Bus Rapid Transit considering User Heterogeneities in ChinaYueying Huo0Jianrong Liu1Jian Zhang2Xiaojuan Li3Transportation Institute, Inner Mongolia University, 24 Zhaojun Rd, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010070, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, 381 Wushan Rd, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510640, ChinaSchool of Transportation, Southeast University, 2 Southeast University Rd, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 211189, ChinaTransportation Institute, Inner Mongolia University, 24 Zhaojun Rd, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010070, ChinaLevel of service (LOS) analysis based on LOS criteria is essential for the planning, design, and operational evaluation of public transit. However, there are no systematic transit LOS criteria at present in China. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is receiving increasing attention worldwide. Therefore, this study addresses LOS criteria for BRT in China. Transit passengers are heterogeneous in their perceptions, needs, and behavior. The traditional hard LOS criteria have an inherent weakness, because of which the accuracy of an LOS analysis is limited. Thus, in this study, we initially conducted transit market segmentation to reduce heterogeneity and subsequently developed BRT fuzzy LOS criteria for different passenger groups. Using a smartphone-based transit travel survey system, we organized BRT passenger travel surveys on three BRT systems in China to collect data. Transit market segmentation was performed based on user perceptions; passengers were segmented into a calm passenger group and an anxious passenger group using the latent class model. Passenger arrival time, passenger wait time, and running speed of the bus were selected as service metrics to reflect the BRT’s LOS. BRT fuzzy LOS criteria for the three service metrics in the case of both the calm and anxious passenger groups were developed using fuzzy C-means clustering. The LOS criteria for the two groups of passengers fit their psychological characteristics and reflected their personalized travel needs. Fuzzy LOS criteria can describe to what extent service metric values belong to the adjacent LOS categories via the use of membership. Thus, fuzzy LOS criteria can overcome the weakness of hard LOS criteria.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8844590
spellingShingle Yueying Huo
Jianrong Liu
Jian Zhang
Xiaojuan Li
Development of Fuzzy Level of Service Criteria for Bus Rapid Transit considering User Heterogeneities in China
Journal of Advanced Transportation
title Development of Fuzzy Level of Service Criteria for Bus Rapid Transit considering User Heterogeneities in China
title_full Development of Fuzzy Level of Service Criteria for Bus Rapid Transit considering User Heterogeneities in China
title_fullStr Development of Fuzzy Level of Service Criteria for Bus Rapid Transit considering User Heterogeneities in China
title_full_unstemmed Development of Fuzzy Level of Service Criteria for Bus Rapid Transit considering User Heterogeneities in China
title_short Development of Fuzzy Level of Service Criteria for Bus Rapid Transit considering User Heterogeneities in China
title_sort development of fuzzy level of service criteria for bus rapid transit considering user heterogeneities in china
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8844590
work_keys_str_mv AT yueyinghuo developmentoffuzzylevelofservicecriteriaforbusrapidtransitconsideringuserheterogeneitiesinchina
AT jianrongliu developmentoffuzzylevelofservicecriteriaforbusrapidtransitconsideringuserheterogeneitiesinchina
AT jianzhang developmentoffuzzylevelofservicecriteriaforbusrapidtransitconsideringuserheterogeneitiesinchina
AT xiaojuanli developmentoffuzzylevelofservicecriteriaforbusrapidtransitconsideringuserheterogeneitiesinchina