Feeder bus accessibility modeling and evaluation

Abstract

To improve first/last mile travel services between metro stations and communities, this study modeled and analyzed four kinds of feeder bus operation strategies in terms of travel time and accessibility. The analytical modeling was used to compare the travel times and the simulation experiments were used to compare the accessibilities of different operation strategies. The results showed that when the ratio between length and width of study area increases, the number of stops for the fixed route transit with fixed stops will increase. When the travel demand is low, the demand responsive transit with separate routes has the highest accessibility. When the travel demand is high, the fixed route transit with fixed stops provides the highest accessibility. In addition, the ratio of flows in two passenger directions has different influences on the four operation strategies. This study can provide guidance for feeder bus operation to improve public transportation attraction.