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Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a recent innovative transport concept, anticipated to oblige significant changes in current transport practices. This study aimed to develop a methodology to justify the potential MaaS adoption. For this purpose, an innovative methodology is presented to identify four types of stations, including "Transit (servicing travelers by bus)", "Micro-mobility (servicing travelers by bike and scooter)", "MaaS (servicing travelers by bus, bike, scooter, and Uber)", and "None (no station)" for each node. The proposed methodology minimizes the total user and agency costs, including user travel time cost, out-of-pocket costs, agency construction costs for MaaS and agency MaaS operating costs. The methodology was tested with a 100 node transport network with existing bus routes. The following results were acquired: 1) Construction of micro-mobility station was not justified for 42 nodes and 37 nodes in 20-years and 30-years life cycles if only 20% of demand from shortest path demand select micro-mobility options 2) Over 20-years and 30-years life cycles, the operator benefits from daily savings amounting to $18,520 and $16,033, respectively, and 3) There are no consistent results to justify the MaaS construction and operation based on existence of the transit stations. In other words, the justification depends on users' shortest trip paths, amount of demand, and existing transit stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Containment measures slowed the spread of COVID-19 but led to a global economic crisis. We establish a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm that balances disease control and economic activities. Methods: To train the RL agent, we design an RL environment with 4 semi-connected regions to represent the COVID-19 epidemic in Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa, and Hokkaido, Japan. Every region is governed by a Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Quarantined-Removed (SEIQR) model and has a transport hub to connect with other regions. The allocation of the synthetic population and inter-regional traveling is determined by population-weighted density. The agent learns the best policy from interacting with the RL environment, which involves obtaining daily observations, performing actions on individual movement and screening, and receiving feedback from the reward function. After training, we implement the agent into RL environments describing the actual epidemic waves of the four regions to observe the agent's performance. Results: For all epidemic waves covered by our study, the trained agent reduces the peak number of infectious cases and shortens the epidemics (from 165 to 35 cases and 148 to 131 days for the 5th wave). The agent is generally strict on screening but easy on movement, except for Okinawa, where the agent is easy on both actions. Action timing analyses indicate that restriction on movement is elevated when the number of exposed or infectious cases remains high or infectious cases increase rapidly, and stringency on screening is eased when the number of exposed or infectious cases drops quickly or to a regional low. For Okinawa, action on screening is tightened when the number of exposed or infectious cases increases rapidly. Conclusions: Our experiments exhibit the potential of the RL in assisting policy-making and how the semi-connected SEIQR models establish an interactive environment for imitating cross-regional human flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Containment measures slowed the spread of COVID-19 but led to a global economic crisis. We establish a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm that balances disease control and economic activities. Methods: To train the RL agent, we design an RL environment with 4 semi-connected regions to represent the COVID-19 epidemic in Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa, and Hokkaido, Japan. Every region is governed by a Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Quarantined-Removed (SEIQR) model and has a transport hub to connect with other regions. The allocation of the synthetic population and inter-regional traveling is determined by population-weighted density. The agent learns the best policy from interacting with the RL environment, which involves obtaining daily observations, performing actions on individual movement and screening, and receiving feedback from the reward function. After training, we implement the agent into RL environments describing the actual epidemic waves of the four regions to observe the agent's performance. Results: For all epidemic waves covered by our study, the trained agent reduces the peak number of infectious cases and shortens the epidemics (from 165 to 35 cases and 148 to 131 days for the 5th wave). The agent is generally strict on screening but easy on movement, except for Okinawa, where the agent is easy on both actions. Action timing analyses indicate that restriction on movement is elevated when the number of exposed or infectious cases remains high or infectious cases increase rapidly, and stringency on screening is eased when the number of exposed or infectious cases drops quickly or to a regional low. For Okinawa, action on screening is tightened when the number of exposed or infectious cases increases rapidly. Conclusions: Our experiments exhibit the potential of the RL in assisting policy-making and how the semi-connected SEIQR models establish an interactive environment for imitating cross-regional human flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public transit accessibility has become an important attribute of social and economic activity of contemporary society. The shift to the sustainable paradigm of the current cities' development has made public transport the basic mean for population travels execution. The spatial character of the travels in the megapolises supposes its implementation with the transfers. This may result in the travel time increase if the transport hubs are designed or located inefficiently. In some cases, the transport hub locations do not reflect the current demand for public transport services and require the fulfilment of the infrastructure measures. The paper presents the Hub Location Problem (HLP) solving in the case of rapid transit and trolleybus lines interaction. It has been proposed the combined criterion for the HLP solving based on the two-dimensional coordinate system with the estimation of passenger walk turnover. The simulation procedure to estimate the transport hub relocation has been made in the PTV VISUM software in the case of the Industrial District of Kharkiv City (Ukraine). The results of the economic effect available from the transport hub rational location have been estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a significant increase in the role of sea ferry services today as well as a significant increase in the number of ferry vessels and passenger flow, which requires the development of new practical forecasting methods. The article proposes a new approach to forecasting, which is based on the integrated interaction of the systems «passenger sea port - cruise or ferry lines». This research focused on the regions of the Adriatic and the Baltic Sea and the existing network of cruise and ferry line routes. When studying this system, it was justified to use a new mathematical model based on practical simulation and models of the theory of discrete processes and systems. The proposed model is complemented by a discretization-based study based on the Kotelnikov´s theorem. To reflect the dynamics of changes in such a system, it is proposed to use new diagrams of the intensity represented by circos graphs (diagrams). The article discusses the practical importance of using new circos intensity graphs of sections to study the operation of the «marine terminal - cruise line or ferry line» systems based on real data on the Baltic and Adriatic seas. Based on the simulation results, a new system of corrective actions is proposed to improve the management of marine terminals. It presents new results which can increase the accuracy of the planning and decision-making process in predicting and planning the route network based on the research of passenger traffic between the «sea terminal - cruise line or ferry line» systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In terms of a systematic approach, till now it was not possible to investigate separately sea passenger terminals and the operation of ferry or cruise lines. So it is necessary to investigate their mutual influence, analyze the intensities, take into account the influence of the external environment and solve forecasting problems. This circumstance justifies the need to use new tools and models that allow analyzing the macro-level, consisting of all the ports in the region and the available ferry lines. For solving short-term forecasting problems, the class of polynomial problems has recommended as well. But, when taking into account the mutual influence of the terminals and ferry lines on each other, the task becomes much more complicated. The discrete nature of the initial data, schedules of ship calls which need to be combined into a single array of data, comes to the fore in the study of processes. The process of functioning of an individual terminal with varying degrees of accuracy can be represented as a sequence of several typical design modes, each of which corresponds to a change in a certain set of characteristics and number of ship calls. But when solving problems at the macro-level, the article proposes to use optimization based on the circos plot. The construction of this type of diagram is associated with the fulfillment of certain boundary conditions, which makes it possible to define the boundaries of the region, to study and to form the completeness of the initial data. The object of the study is the interconnection of selected marine passenger terminals and the existing ferry lines. Based on the initial data, transformations were carried out and a circular (circos) plot of relations was constructed. Such diagram takes into account the analysis of the mutual influence of the terminals of one region. The obtained results make it possible to improve the quality of decision making, since a representation of the macro-level planning system of the «marine passenger terminals - ferry lines» is formed within the framework of the selected marine region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand mobility patterns in mega-city regions from perspectives of accessibility and air-rail intermodality. Travellers' preferences for intercity mode and its access and egress modes were simultaneously collected in the context of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei mega-city region. The accessibility of transport hubs and destinations was measured to enable interpreting mobility behaviour in three dimensions, i.e., travel mode decisions, departure transport hub decisions, and transport service decisions. The calibrated behavioural model highlights a series of determinants regarding level-of-service attributes, travel characteristics, accessibility, socio-demographics, and their interaction. Based on the behavioural insights, twenty domestic cities were selected as destinations for analysing the dynamics of mobility patterns in terms of the competition within the multi-airport system and air-rail cooperation potential in the long-haul market. The elasticity of shifts in transport demand between the primary and secondary airports in the Beijing multi-airport system was assessed under various pricing strategies, highlighting the vital role of the most accessible airport in air traveller decision-making. Moreover, the results underline the effect of air-rail intermodal service upgrades, e.g., offering baggage handling systems and flexible tickets, on stimulating air-rail intermodal mobility in the mega-city region. • Behavioural determinants of intermodal travellers. • Joint decisions on transport modes, hubs, and services. • Effect of accessibility on competitive relationships in multi-airport systems. • Market share of air-rail intermodality in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei mega-city region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern processes in the world economy directly affect the development and changes in sea passenger ports and their infrastructure. The principles of organization of the "city - sea passenger port" system are changing and becoming more complex. Recently there has been a significant increase in passenger traffic and cruise ship and ferry traffic in Baltic Sea. Since these objects are complex technical systems consisting of many elements, in their study it is necessary to use the system approach, to solve the problem of structure synthesis and the determination of objective functions. The objective of this publication was to study how the forecast for the development of demand for sea passenger ports (number cruise ships and passengers flow for next year) could be done by combining simulation and forecast functions. These tasks depend on the qualitative construction of specialized information simulation models. Such subsystems should be used by passenger port management for both operational everyday tasks and strategic tasks. One of the main goals of the forecast is the qualitative construction of an analytical function work of the terminal that determines the passenger flow based on real data. The article considers the solution of this problem by using the method of average growth rate and polynomial extrapolation. In the article, the characteristics and infrastructural features of the passenger ports of St. Petersburg are given, and the main directions of development based on the results of simulation are considered. The paper discusses advantages of using such forecast and their introduction in the early stages of operation of the terminal. The study represents an example of analytical information used for the forecast of the terminal load, the analysis of the workload and efficiency of the organization of the marine terminal in operational tasks using analytical function based on real data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China Railway Express has been developed rapidly since “the Belt and Road Initiative” in China was proposed. Many cities in the Midwest of China have developed into the transport hub from the transport terminal. The key question is how to reasonably formulate the size of the container station and the frequency of the shift for China Railway Express. This paper takes the container as the research object. Regarding the containers as customers in the queuing system, customers’ services ending with the loading of containers into China Railway Express, based on a finite-capacity queueing system with batch service, this paper provides an optimal layout method for the container yard of China Railway Express. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the compactness and high concentration of socio-economic phenomena urban areas require a developed transport infrastructure and a coherence in communication with the surrounding territory and centres of different levels to ensure the proper functioning. The article is dedicated to estimation of the position of medium-sized cities in an Western part of Ukraine relative to the existing transport system. Particular attention is paid to location relative to international transport corridors and European routes, to the proximity and transport accessibility to state border checkpoints. It has been determined that in general cities are characterized by an advantageous position, as being situated within the border area, within or close to major highways, and most of them have easy connection to regional centres. The most favourable transport and geographical position, which can be described as arterial, belongs to Kovel, Mukacheve and Stryi. Kovel and Stryi are important transport hubs in Western Ukraine. However, comparing to other medium-sized cities of the area, the greatest amount of international and European transport routes lies across Mukacheve. Transport and geographical position of Colomyia and Chervonohrad can be considered as advantageous, as evidenced by their status of railway hubs, less advantageous – Drohobych and Kalush. Novovolynsk has the least advantageous, peripheral transport and geographical position. The transport and geographical position of medium-sized cities in the region serves as an additional incentive to use their potential, which is particularly important in view of their role as industrial and administrative centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing the proposed approach to the transport hub management is initiated by the fact that during the second half of the last century proponents of classical management theory focused on building economic-mathematical models of cargo transshipment management in terms of well-developed mathematical disciplines. In the beginning of this century, scientists have shifted to approaches to the transport hub management organization, proposed by Western European scientists, based on modern theories of business conduct. In this paper, an original approach to ensuring the coordinated transport hub management, based on combining the methodology of classical science of optimal management and constructive ideas, new progressive concepts of business conduct in conjunction with the social management theory was proposed. It was found that the proposed approach should be realized in two stages: first it is necessary to coordinate cargo transshipment process parameters, and then ensure optimal implementation of this process. The provisions set forth in the paper have theoretical significance since they are characterized by scientific novelty and are useful in practical terms as they improve operation efficiency both of transport hubs, and their customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An intensive increase in road transport, particularly individual, in recent years has led to such consequences as increased time spent on travel, the number of forced stops, traffic accidents, the occurrence of traffic jams on the road network, reducing traffic speed and a deteriorated urban road network in cities. The most effective method for solving these problems is the use of graph theory, the main characteristics of which is reliability, durability and accessibility of a free as well as loaded network. Based on their analysis the methods for network optimization are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The underground space is partitioned into cells with different size. • Guidance demand is treated as heterogeneous over the underground space. • An accurate interaction model for evacuees and signs is proposed. • A location set covering model for EGSS design is proposed. • We combine advantages of analytical and simulation methods to design EGSS. Emergency guidance signage systems (EGSSs) are widely used to guide crowd evacuation in underground spaces. However, the absence of signs often reduces the evacuation efficiency. Current methods for EGSS design suffer from challenges associated with complex evacuee-signage interactions, guidance demand determination and numerous potential sign locations. The present article investigates a discrete approach to EGSS design. To this end, a cell-based discretization method is proposed to abstract the guidance demand and potential sign locations. To design an EGSS that can efficiently convey guidance information to evacuees, an interaction model, which is determined by the cognitive capabilities of moving evacuees and the characteristics of signs, is proposed for analyzing the guidance relationship between evacuees and signs with different locations and orientations. An EGSS design model is formulated to recommend the optimal number, location, and installation orientation of signs, and a wayfinding simulation model is proposed to validate the obtained design plan. Finally, a real-world case study is used to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is often viewed as an emerging experimental base for transit-oriented development (TOD) practices because of its rapid urban growth and development of mass transit networks. The implementation of TOD can be heavily influenced by institutional barriers to urban growth. However, some newly emerging types of TOD practice allow planners and decision-makers to bypass some of the institutional barriers and achieve a certain degree of integrated development. Current academic literature, however, has little to say on how these informal institutional solutions go around these barriers. This article aims to fill this gap by examining three different types of TOD practice as applied in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. We analysed and compared the origins and effects of abovementioned informal institutional arrangements under entrepreneurial governance. We found that land value capturing can replace the existing governance mode in which local government heavily relies on revenue from land-leasing and realise better integration of transit and land development. We conclude with several suggestions for institutional reform based on these new types of TOD experiments. • The implementation of TOD in China can be heavily influenced by institutional barriers to urban growth. • New types of TOD bypasses institutional barriers through informal institutional solutions. • Value capture can replace the existing urban governance mode depending on land-leasing revenue. • Institutionalisation the informal solutions in new types of TOD is key for future institutional reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]