IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v39y2015icp63-76.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysis of a new public-transport-service concept: Customized bus in China

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Tao
  • Ceder, Avishai (Avi)

Abstract

In recent years, an innovative mode of public transport (PT) service, known as customized bus (CB), has been springing up across China. This service, providing advanced, personalized and flexible demand-responsive PT, is offered to specific clientele, especially commuters. The present work analyzes, for the first time, the evolution of this new PT concept across 30 Chinese cities where CB systems are currently in operation or under construction. Unlike conventional bus transit service, CB users are actively involved in various operational planning activities. CB personalizes PT service by using interactive and integrated information platforms, such as internet website, telephone and smartphone. The analysis comprises three components: first, a comprehensive examination of the background of CB and its temporal and spatial distribution in China; second, an analysis of the operation-planning process, including elements of online demand collection, network route design, timetable development, vehicle scheduling, crew scheduling, real-time control, and fare design and collection: third, a summary of the results of the examination and analysis, presenting pros, cons and recommendations. The successful implementation of CB in China demonstrates that this new PT service concept can effectively meet the ever-increasing mobility needs of large populations nation-wide. Similarly, the present work can provide a valuable reference for policymakers, academic researchers, PT practitioners and others worldwide.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Tao & Ceder, Avishai (Avi), 2015. "Analysis of a new public-transport-service concept: Customized bus in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 63-76.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:39:y:2015:i:c:p:63-76
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2015.02.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X15000256
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2015.02.004?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shaheen, Susan & Sperling, Daniel & Wagner, Conrad, 1998. "Carsharing in Europe and North American: Past, Present, and Future," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt4gx4m05b, University of California Transportation Center.
    2. Shyue Koong Chang & Paul M. Schonfeld, 1991. "Optimization Models for Comparing Conventional and Subscription Bus Feeder Services," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 281-298, November.
    3. Guihaire, Valérie & Hao, Jin-Kao, 2008. "Transit network design and scheduling: A global review," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(10), pages 1251-1273, December.
    4. Ceder, Avishai & Wilson, Nigel H. M., 1986. "Bus network design," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 331-344, August.
    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. Ouyang, Yanfeng & Nourbakhsh, Seyed Mohammad & Cassidy, Michael J., 2014. "Continuum approximation approach to bus network design under spatially heterogeneous demand," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 333-344.
    2. Luca Quadrifoglio & Randolph W. Hall & Maged M. Dessouky, 2006. "Performance and Design of Mobility Allowance Shuttle Transit Services: Bounds on the Maximum Longitudinal Velocity," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(3), pages 351-363, August.
    3. Aldaihani, Majid M. & Quadrifoglio, Luca & Dessouky, Maged M. & Hall, Randolph, 2004. "Network design for a grid hybrid transit service," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 511-530, August.
    4. Luo, Sida & Nie, Yu (Marco), 2020. "Paired-line hybrid transit design considering spatial heterogeneity," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 320-339.
    5. Roca-Riu, Mireia & Estrada, Miquel & Trapote, César, 2012. "The design of interurban bus networks in city centers," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1153-1165.
    6. Chen, Peng (Will) & Nie, Yu (Marco), 2018. "Optimal design of demand adaptive paired-line hybrid transit: Case of radial route structure," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 71-89.
    7. Andrés Fielbaum & Sergio Jara-Díaz & Antonio Gschwender, 2018. "Transit Line Structures in a General Parametric City: The Role of Heuristics," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(5), pages 1092-1105, October.
    8. Benjamin Otto, 2019. "Aggregation techniques for frequency assignment in public transportation," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 51-87, June.
    9. Elnaz Miandoabchi & Reza Farahani & Wout Dullaert & W. Szeto, 2012. "Hybrid Evolutionary Metaheuristics for Concurrent Multi-Objective Design of Urban Road and Public Transit Networks," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 441-480, September.
    10. (Edward) Kim, Myungseob & Levy, Joshua & Schonfeld, Paul, 2019. "Optimal zone sizes and headways for flexible-route bus services," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 67-81.
    11. Kumar, Pramesh & Khani, Alireza, 2022. "Planning of integrated mobility-on-demand and urban transit networks," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 499-521.
    12. David Schmaranzer & Roland Braune & Karl F. Doerner, 2021. "Multi-objective simulation optimization for complex urban mass rapid transit systems," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 305(1), pages 449-486, October.
    13. Sunhyung Yoo & Jinwoo Brian Lee & Hoon Han, 2023. "A Reinforcement Learning approach for bus network design and frequency setting optimisation," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 503-534, June.
    14. Timm Teubner & Christoph Flath, 2015. "The Economics of Multi-Hop Ride Sharing," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 57(5), pages 311-324, October.
    15. Carosi, Samuela & Frangioni, Antonio & Galli, Laura & Girardi, Leopoldo & Vallese, Giuliano, 2019. "A matheuristic for integrated timetabling and vehicle scheduling," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 99-124.
    16. David Canca & Eva Barrena & Gilbert Laporte & Francisco A. Ortega, 2016. "A short-turning policy for the management of demand disruptions in rapid transit systems," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 246(1), pages 145-166, November.
    17. 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.
    18. Wu, Jiaming & Kulcsár, Balázs & Selpi, & Qu, Xiaobo, 2021. "A modular, adaptive, and autonomous transit system (MAATS): A in-motion transfer strategy and performance evaluation in urban grid transit networks," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 81-98.
    19. Leiva, Carola & Muñoz, Juan Carlos & Giesen, Ricardo & Larrain, Homero, 2010. "Design of limited-stop services for an urban bus corridor with capacity constraints," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1186-1201, December.
    20. John HE Taplin & Yuchao Sun, 2020. "Optimizing bus stop locations for walking access: Stops-first design of a feeder route to enhance a residential plan," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(7), pages 1237-1259, September.

    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:trapol:v:39:y:2015:i:c:p:63-76. 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/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    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.