Investigating the in-vehicle crowding cost functions for public transit modes

Abstract

In the densely populated metropolitan area, empirical studies have found that overcrowding inside transit vehicles has become substantially worse and worse over recent years. Chronic in-vehicle crowding is not only caused by a lack of physical infrastructure, but also triggered by inadequate service provisions. Given the prevalence of overcrowded transit vehicles, this paper conducts both quantitative and qualitative studies, especially focusing on remodeling the in-vehicle crowding cost functions for different transit modes. Three numerical case studies show that applying distinct in-vehicle crowding cost functions to different transit modes has implications not only for the cost structure of transit systems and the magnitude of optimal service provisions but also for the presence of economies of scale in consumption. © 2014 Feifei Qin.