Demand imbalances and multi-period public transport supply
File(s)TRB-2017-412-Manuscript-v4-ACCEPTED.pdf (1.53 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Horcher, D
Graham, Daniel J
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This paper investigates multi-period public transport supply, i.e. networks in which capacity cannot be differentiated between links and time periods facing independent but nonidentical demand conditions. This setting is particularly relevant in public transport, as earlier findings on multi-period road supply cannot be applied when the user cost function, defined as the sum of waiting time and crowding costs, is nonhomogeneous. The presence of temporal, spatial and directional demand imbalances is unavoidable in a public transport network. It is not obvious, however, how the magnitude of demand imbalances may affect its economic and financial performance. We show in a simple back-haul setting with elastic demand, controlling for total willingness to pay in the network, that asymmetries in market size reduce the attainable social surplus of a service, while variety in maximum willingness to pay leads to higher aggregate social surplus and lower subsidy under efficient pricing. The analysis of multi-period supply sheds light on the relationship between urban structure, daily activity patterns, and public transport performance.
Date Issued
2018-02-01
Date Acceptance
2017-12-16
Citation
Transportation Research Part B: Methodological: an international journal, 2018, 108 (1), pp.106-126
ISSN
0191-2615
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
106
End Page
126
Journal / Book Title
Transportation Research Part B: Methodological: an international journal
Volume
108
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2018, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191261517304812
Subjects
Social Sciences
Science & Technology
Technology
Economics
Engineering, Civil
Operations Research & Management Science
Transportation
Transportation Science & Technology
Business & Economics
Engineering
Public transport
Transport supply
Crowding
Capacity optimisation
Demand imbalances
SENSITIVITY-ANALYSIS
TRAFFIC CONGESTION
OPTIMAL-DESIGN
BUS SIZE
OPTIMIZATION
TRANSIT
MODEL
PASSENGERS
FREQUENCY
ECONOMICS
Logistics & Transportation
0102 Applied Mathematics
0905 Civil Engineering
1507 Transportation and Freight Services
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-01-04