IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceps/v100y2025ics0038012125000771.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improving transit network resilience against disruptions through path redundancy

Author

Listed:
  • Iliopoulou, Christina
  • Makridis, Michail A.
  • Kouvelas, Anastasios

Abstract

Public transport systems are vulnerable to natural disasters, accidents, or deliberate attacks, that can cause infrastructure damage and service disruptions. Disruption impacts depend on the network structure and the availability of alternative travel paths, highlighting the importance of path redundancy in public transport network planning. Addressing the associated research gap, we propose a practice-oriented path redundancy indicator and integrate it within a novel hybrid metaheuristic solution framework to design more resilient route structures from scratch. The approach combines Reinforcement Learning, Local Search operators and Particle Swarm Optimization and is validated using an established benchmark from the literature and a real-world network from Uruguay, generating more resilient networks that serve up to 25 % and 40 % more passengers in random and targeted attacks, respectively. Results show that resilience against link failures can be enhanced through path redundancy without adversely impacting average travel times.

Suggested Citation

  • Iliopoulou, Christina & Makridis, Michail A. & Kouvelas, Anastasios, 2025. "Improving transit network resilience against disruptions through path redundancy," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:100:y:2025:i:c:s0038012125000771
    DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2025.102228
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038012125000771
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.seps.2025.102228?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abdelaty, Hatem & Mohamed, Moataz & Ezzeldin, Mohamed & El-Dakhakhni, Wael, 2022. "Temporal robustness assessment framework for city-scale bus transit networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 606(C).
    2. Zhang, X. & Miller-Hooks, E. & Denny, K., 2015. "Assessing the role of network topology in transportation network resilience," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 35-45.
    3. Liping Ge & Stefan Voß & Lin Xie, 2022. "Robustness and disturbances in public transport," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 191-261, March.
    4. Chan, Ho-Yin & Chen, Anthony & Li, Guoyuan & Xu, Xiangdong & Lam, William, 2021. "Evaluating the value of new metro lines using route diversity measures: The case of Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway system," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Reggiani, Aura & Nijkamp, Peter & Lanzi, Diego, 2015. "Transport resilience and vulnerability: The role of connectivity," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 4-15.
    6. Jenelius, Erik & Petersen, Tom & Mattsson, Lars-Göran, 2006. "Importance and exposure in road network vulnerability analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 537-560, August.
    7. Konstantinos Gkiotsalitis & Oded Cats, 2021. "Public transport planning adaption under the COVID-19 pandemic crisis: literature review of research needs and directions," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 374-392, May.
    8. Du, Wei & Li, Yanjun & Shi, Jianxin & Sun, Baozhi & Wang, Chunhui & Zhu, Baitong, 2023. "Applying an improved particle swarm optimization algorithm to ship energy saving," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PE).
    9. Farahani, Reza Zanjirani & Miandoabchi, Elnaz & Szeto, W.Y. & Rashidi, Hannaneh, 2013. "A review of urban transportation network design problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 229(2), pages 281-302.
    10. Ahmed, Leena & Mumford, Christine & Kheiri, Ahmed, 2019. "Solving urban transit route design problem using selection hyper-heuristics," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 274(2), pages 545-559.
    11. Li, Jin-Yang & Teng, Jing & Wang, Hui, 2024. "Measuring route diversity in spatial and spatial-temporal public transport networks," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 42-58.
    12. Cats, Oded & Jenelius, Erik, 2015. "Planning for the unexpected: The value of reserve capacity for public transport network robustness," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 47-61.
    13. Sun, Daniel (Jian) & Guan, Shituo, 2016. "Measuring vulnerability of urban metro network from line operation perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 348-359.
    14. Karimi-Mamaghan, Maryam & Mohammadi, Mehrdad & Pasdeloup, Bastien & Meyer, Patrick, 2023. "Learning to select operators in meta-heuristics: An integration of Q-learning into the iterated greedy algorithm for the permutation flowshop scheduling problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 304(3), pages 1296-1330.
    15. Mandl, Christoph E., 1980. "Evaluation and optimization of urban public transportation networks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 5(6), pages 396-404, December.
    16. Cats, Oded, 2017. "Topological evolution of a metropolitan rail transport network: The case of Stockholm," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 172-183.
    17. Sybil Derrible & Christopher Kennedy, 2011. "Applications of Graph Theory and Network Science to Transit Network Design," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(4), pages 495-519.
    18. Cats, O., 2016. "The robustness value of public transport development plans," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 236-246.
    19. Pan, Shouzheng & Yan, Hai & He, Jia & He, Zhengbing, 2021. "Vulnerability and resilience of transportation systems: A recent literature review," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 581(C).
    20. Cats, Oded & Krishnakumari, Panchamy, 2020. "Metropolitan rail network robustness," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 549(C).
    21. Rahimi-Golkhandan, Armin & Aslani, Babak & Mohebbi, Shima, 2022. "Predictive resilience of interdependent water and transportation infrastructures: A sociotechnical approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    22. Gu, Yu & Fu, Xiao & Liu, Zhiyuan & Xu, Xiangdong & Chen, Anthony, 2020. "Performance of transportation network under perturbations: Reliability, vulnerability, and resilience," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    23. Bertrand Berche & Christian Von Ferber & Taras Holovatch & Yurij Holovatch, 2012. "Transportation Network Stability: A Case Study Of City Transit," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(supp0), pages 1-19.
    24. B. Berche & C. von Ferber & T. Holovatch & Yu. Holovatch, 2009. "Resilience of public transport networks against attacks," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 71(1), pages 125-137, September.
    25. Reggiani, Aura, 2013. "Network resilience for transport security: Some methodological considerations," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 63-68.
    26. Xu, Chen & Xu, Xueguo, 2024. "A two-stage resilience promotion approach for urban rail transit networks based on topology enhancement and recovery optimization," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 635(C).
    27. Iliopoulou, Christina & Makridis, Michail A., 2023. "Critical multi-link disruption identification for public transport networks: A multi-objective optimization framework," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 626(C).
    28. Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2023. "Retracted: Improved Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm in Power System Network Reconfiguration," Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Hindawi, vol. 2023, pages 1-1, July.
    29. Yin, Yong & Chen, Jinqu & Chen, Zhuo & Du, Bo & Li, Baowen, 2024. "A scenario model for enhancing the resilience of an urban rail transit network by adding new links," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 637(C).
    30. Laporte, G. & Mesa, J.A. & Ortega, F.A. & Perea, F., 2011. "Planning rapid transit networks," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 95-104, September.
    31. Christina Iliopoulou & Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou & Eleni Vlahogianni, 2019. "Metaheuristics for the transit route network design problem: a review and comparative analysis," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 487-521, October.
    32. Javier Durán-Micco & Pieter Vansteenwegen, 2022. "A survey on the transit network design and frequency setting problem," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 155-190, March.
    33. Javier Duran & Lorena Pradenas & Victor Parada, 2019. "Transit network design with pollution minimization," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 189-210, June.
    34. Timothy Matisziw & Alan Murray & Tony Grubesic, 2009. "Exploring the vulnerability of network infrastructure to disruption," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(2), pages 307-321, June.
    35. Cancela, Héctor & Mauttone, Antonio & Urquhart, María E., 2015. "Mathematical programming formulations for transit network design," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 17-37.
    36. Karimi-Mamaghan, Maryam & Mohammadi, Mehrdad & Meyer, Patrick & Karimi-Mamaghan, Amir Mohammad & Talbi, El-Ghazali, 2022. "Machine learning at the service of meta-heuristics for solving combinatorial optimization problems: A state-of-the-art," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 296(2), pages 393-422.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Iliopoulou, Christina & Makridis, Michail A., 2023. "Critical multi-link disruption identification for public transport networks: A multi-objective optimization framework," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 626(C).
    2. Gonçalves, L.A.P.J. & Ribeiro, P.J.G., 2020. "Resilience of urban transportation systems. Concept, characteristics, and methods," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. Caterina Malandri & Luca Mantecchini & Filippo Paganelli & Maria Nadia Postorino, 2021. "Public Transport Network Vulnerability and Delay Distribution among Travelers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-14, August.
    4. Liping Ge & Stefan Voß & Lin Xie, 2022. "Robustness and disturbances in public transport," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 191-261, March.
    5. Gu, Yu & Fu, Xiao & Liu, Zhiyuan & Xu, Xiangdong & Chen, Anthony, 2020. "Performance of transportation network under perturbations: Reliability, vulnerability, and resilience," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    6. Hong, Liu & Ye, Bowen & Yan, Han & Zhang, Hui & Ouyang, Min & (Sean) He, Xiaozheng, 2019. "Spatiotemporal vulnerability analysis of railway systems with heterogeneous train flows," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 725-744.
    7. Cats, Oded & Koppenol, Gert-Jaap & Warnier, Martijn, 2017. "Robustness assessment of link capacity reduction for complex networks: Application for public transport systems," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 544-553.
    8. Kashin Sugishita & Yasuo Asakura, 2021. "Vulnerability studies in the fields of transportation and complex networks: a citation network analysis," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-34, March.
    9. Pan, Shouzheng & Yan, Hai & He, Jia & He, Zhengbing, 2021. "Vulnerability and resilience of transportation systems: A recent literature review," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 581(C).
    10. Lin Zhang & Jian Lu & Bai-bai Fu & Shu-bin Li, 2018. "A Review and Prospect for the Complexity and Resilience of Urban Public Transit Network Based on Complex Network Theory," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-36, December.
    11. Lu, Qing-Chang, 2018. "Modeling network resilience of rail transit under operational incidents," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 227-237.
    12. Chan, Ho-Yin & Chen, Anthony & Li, Guoyuan & Xu, Xiangdong & Lam, William, 2021. "Evaluating the value of new metro lines using route diversity measures: The case of Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway system," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    13. Tan, Erlong & Liu, Bing & Guo, Cong & Ma, Xiaolei, 2024. "Restoration sequence optimization for vulnerable metro stations with limited budget: A case study of Beijing, China," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 653(C).
    14. Zhu, Jingjing & Xu, Xiangdong & Wang, Zijian, 2023. "Economic evaluation of redundancy design for transportation networks under disruptions: Framework and case study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 70-83.
    15. Ahern, Zeke & Paz, Alexander & Corry, Paul, 2022. "Approximate multi-objective optimization for integrated bus route design and service frequency setting," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 1-25.
    16. Mahmoudi, Reza & Saidi, Saeid & Emrouznejad, Ali, 2025. "Mathematical programming in public bus transit design and operations: Emerging technologies and sustainability – A review," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    17. Zhang, Lin & Lu, Jian & Fu, Bai-bai & Li, Shu-bin, 2019. "A cascading failures model of weighted bus transit route network under route failure perspective considering link prediction effect," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 523(C), pages 1315-1330.
    18. Li, Tao & Rong, Lili & Yan, Kesheng, 2019. "Vulnerability analysis and critical area identification of public transport system: A case of high-speed rail and air transport coupling system in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 55-70.
    19. Daniela Leite & Caterina De Bacco, 2024. "Similarity and economy of scale in urban transportation networks and optimal transport-based infrastructures," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    20. Voltes-Dorta, Augusto & Rodríguez-Déniz, Héctor & Suau-Sanchez, Pere, 2017. "Vulnerability of the European air transport network to major airport closures from the perspective of passenger delays: Ranking the most critical airports," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 119-145.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:100:y:2025:i:c:s0038012125000771. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/seps .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.