2013 Session: 328

• Exploring the Impact of Crowding and Stop Design on Streetcar Dwell Time
  Abstract: Streetcars are undergoing a renaissance but developers need to plan for efficient stop dwell times to ensure good running time and reliability performance. Research has established that tram stop configuration is a critical factor affecting streetcar dwell times with platform stops having good performance. However research also shows that crowding can act to cause dwell time problems. A major gap in knowledge is that no research has examined crowding and stop design impacts on dwell times.This paper presents the first empirical study to explore the impact of both crowding and tram stop design on streetcar dwell time. A comprehensive dwell time study was undertaken covering busier stops to explore the influence of influence. Two multiple regressions were undertaken to measure the influence of passenger volume, vehicle and stop crowding, tram entrance steps and tram stop design on passenger flow times. Results demonstrate that crowding significantly deteriorates the dwell time benefits which platform stops provide compared to curbside stops. A critical threshold of 14 passenger movements (boardings + alightings) was established, below which platform stop design was preferred and above which curbside stops had better performance. On-vehicle crowding in particular was found to be a significant variable affecting dwell times followed by stop crowding. Crowding effects are more important than the presence of entrance steps in influencing dwell time.The paper discusses the factors influencing these outcomes and suggests areas for future research in this area.
  Authors: Currie, Graham; Delbosc, Alexa; Gelfand, Samantha; Sarvi, Majid
  Authors: Currie, Graham; Delbosc, Alexa; Gelfand, Samantha; Sarvi, Majid
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Public Transportation
  Session: 328
  Paper Number: 13-1008
• Accessibility-Based Approach to Forecasting LRT Trip Production: Application Example from Wuhan, China
  Abstract: Prioritizing public transit is a national policy guiding urban transport supply in China. In the past decade municipal governments throughout the country have invested extensively on transit development. However the investment goals cannot be fully achieved until transit services are efficiently delivered, for which a good understanding of transit demand is critical. Transit demand analysis proves a very challenging task in fast growing Chinese cities partly due to lack of reliable data from and applicable techniques for the city context. This paper presents an effort to meet the challenge by developing an accessibility-based method to estimate transit trip production at the station level. Through a case study of the light-rail transit (LRT) line in Wuhan, China, the method proposes a GIS-based process to derive land use data needed for accessibility modeling and a statistical procedure to estimate and forecast transit boardings for selected stations during the peak hours and throughout the workdays. Empirical calibration shows that the proposed method produces results useful for improving transit planning when detailed, timely data do not exist for the application of the known tools for transit demand analysis. While the study focuses on the Wuhan case, the analytical framework developed here is transferable to other Chinese cities or the areas in other countries, including the developed countries whenever detailed data on transit operations and on local demographics are unavailable.
  Authors: Huang, Zhengdong; Zhang, Ming; Liu, Xuejun
  Authors: Huang, Zhengdong; Zhang, Ming; Liu, Xuejun
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Public Transportation
  Session: 328
  Paper Number: 13-4200
• Light-Rail Transit Experience in Madrid, Spain: Effects on Population Settlement and Land Use
  Abstract: Development of new transport systems often leads to demographic and socioeconomic changes in the implementation area. However, the extent and type of these impacts varies depending on the existing settlement patterns, socio-economic conditions and project objectives. To help better understand these impacts this paper examines the effects of building two new light rail lines in Madrid. The two lines were planned to serve different functions and their service areas have different land use characteristics. LRT Line 1 was designed to help promote urban development in a lightly settled area while Line 2 was designed to encourage public transport in an already developed area. As expected, the analysis shows that the impacts of these two lines have been very different. Along Line 1 a large amount of new development has taken place and there have been large increases in population, while along Line 2 land use and population are largely unchanged. This result demonstrates the critical importance of integrated transport and land use planning in the development of cities.
  Authors: Calvo, Francisco; de Ona, Juan; Aran, Fernando; Nash, Andrew
  Authors: Calvo, Francisco; de Ona, Juan; Aran, Fernando; Nash, Andrew
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Public Transportation
  Session: 328
  Paper Number: 13-1162
  Practice-Ready: Yes
• Alicante Light Rail: Improving the Use of Existing Railway Lines
  Abstract: The TRAM Metropolitano de Alicante (TRAM) is a unique metric (1,000 mm) gauge system that was born as the first Spanish tram-train, but later lost the tram-train characteristic of sharing the railway tracks with conventional trains due to the evolution of the network. Nevertheless, it still operates in a quasi-tram-train way, as the tram-train vehicle runs partly on railway tracks using the railway signaling system and the rest of railway equipment.This quasi-tram-train operation leads to some specific design issues that are explained in this paper. Additionally, the paper presents a thorough description of the Alicante network, its development, its construction and operational costs, its operation and its demand.
  Authors: Novales, Margarita; Cerezo, Juan Antonio G.; Ortega, Roman
  Authors: Novales, Margarita; Cerezo, Juan Antonio G.; Ortega, Roman
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Public Transportation
  Session: 328
  Paper Number: 13-1300
  Practice-Ready: Yes
• Exploring the Impact of Crowding and Stop Design on Streetcar Dwell Time
  Authors: Currie, Graham
  Authors: Currie, Graham
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Public Transportation
  Session: 328
  Paper Number: 13-1008
• Light-Rail Transit Experience in Madrid, Spain: Effects on Population Settlement and Land Use
  Authors: Calvo, Francisco
  Authors: Calvo, Francisco
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Public Transportation
  Session: 328
  Paper Number: 13-1162
• Alicante Light Rail: Improving the Use of Existing Railway Lines
  Authors: Novales, Margarita
  Authors: Novales, Margarita
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Public Transportation
  Session: 328
  Paper Number: 13-1300
• Accessibility-Based Approach to Forecasting LRT Trip Production: Application Example from Wuhan, China
  Authors: Huang, Zhengdong
  Authors: Huang, Zhengdong
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Public Transportation
  Session: 328
  Paper Number: 13-4200
• Accessibility-Based Approach to Forecasting LRT Trip Production: Application Example from Wuhan, China
  Authors: Zhang, Ming
  Authors: Zhang, Ming
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Public Transportation
  Session: 328
  Paper Number: 13-4200