Performance Measures for Multi-vehicle Mobility Allowance Shuttle Transit (MAST) System.

摘要

Transit service is an inalienable and important part of transportation systems. Nowadays, transit agencies are facing challenges due to urban sprawl. Urban sprawl is a phenomenon that as the population is exploding; the population density of cities is actually dropping. As urban sprawl occurs, cities begin losing their traditional centralized functions, and people spread into the suburbs to seek more space and a lower cost of living. As a result, the urban areas are becoming more and more car-dependent, and it appears that new highway construction may not satisfy the demand. There are a few archetypes of urban sprawl such as the Los Angeles metro area, Houston, and Atlanta, among others. In these areas, traditional transit services are struggling because they are not able to provide a satisfying service in such a low-density context. To face the challenges of urban sprawl, urban planning agencies are proposing policies to regulate unlimited urban sprawl. On the other hand, transit agencies are actively seeking innovative public transit solutions that are attractive enough to serve people in the low-density urban areas. In terms of their flexibility, public transit services can be divided into two broad categories: fixed-route transit and a more flexible option called the demand-responsive transit. The fixed-route transit systems include the common buses, subway systems, and school shuttles, etc.