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• A agent-based simulation optimization model is proposed to optimize the release of passenger guidance information in a rail network. • A hybrid heuristic solution algorithm, integrated with passenger simulator and genetic algorithm, is developed. • A case study of Beijing subway is carried out with the large-scale smart card data. The passenger flow guidance is an effective demand management strategy to alleviate the excessive congestion in the urban rail transit network. In order to determine the scope and the timing, a simulation-based optimization model is proposed to optimize the release of passenger flow guidance information in the rail transit network in this paper. In the optimization model, we mainly focus on three aspects namely; where, when and what type of the guidance information should be released to the passengers. In the simulation model, the passenger choice behavior is captured by the agent-based simulation method, which responses to the congestion and the guidance information. Based on this, the dynamic passenger flow distribution can be derived. Furthermore, the adoption rate of the displayed guidance information on passenger information system as well as its impact on passenger travel behavior are also considered in the model. A hybrid heuristic solution algorithm, integrated with passenger simulator and genetic algorithm, is developed to solve the proposed simulation-based optimization model. Finally, a case study of Beijing subway is carried out with the large-scale smart card data. The numerical study shows that the passenger flow demand affects the guidance effect significantly and the best guidance effect can be met with sufficiently high passenger flow demand. And the guidance rate is also found to affect the guidance results. The results also show that the proposed model can provide a detailed guidance scheme for every station at selected time intervals. The results show that the dynamic releasing scheme can save up to a total of 46,319 min in passenger travel time during a single guidance period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

User profiles, considered as one of the fundamental inputs of recommendation systems and customized services, can be rationally applied in the public transport domain to represent passengers' characteristics and behavioral preferences. A user profile of a bus passenger, termed as a bus passenger profile (BPP), is an assortment of labels containing passengers' travel features. This paper proposes a data-driven framework for developing BPP so as to provide guidance on how to create and estimate user profiles for bus passengers based on smart card data. The proposed method comprises three steps. (i) Data preprocessing aimed at extracting key information and preparing passenger profiling. (ii) A tag system aimed at storing the estimated travel features of passengers. (iii) Knowledge graphs aimed at connecting various BPP with semantic edges for practical application of prior knowledge in downstream tasks. The developed framework is implemented in a case study of the Beijing bus system. Deployment of the developed framework has demonstrated that it can satisfactorily develop BPP, while prior knowledge from the BPP-based knowledge graphs can benefit downstream tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have evaluated the influence of the built environment on public transport. Some studies assign subjective weights to environmental factors, which could oversimplify spatial heterogeneity and overlook the temporal dimension. On the other hand, the spatial-interaction network of public transport system is seldom considered. In this paper, we propose an improved framework to explore how individual factors unevenly affect public transport demand over space and time using a geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model. The proposed framework extends the local built environmental factors by including two network factors extracted from the spatial-interaction network of the public transport system. We conduct a case study in Beijing, China using 686 traffic analysis zones (TAZs). The actual usage of public transport, namely the public transport index (PTI), is estimated by passenger flow divided by the total amount of human flow in a given TAZ. The daily patterns of the spatial heterogeneity in some selected places in the study area is identified and analyzed. It is also found that the estimated coefficient of the variables of the spatial-interaction network is significantly larger than other static environmental factors, indicating that spatial-interaction network can more effectively reflect spatiotemporal heterogeneity in public transport demand. This study provides a better decision-making support for more accurately identifying which factors are most worthy of development, and when and where they can be implemented to improve public transit services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated Fare Collection (AFC) systems in rail transit services collect enormous amounts of detailed data on on-board transactions. A better understanding of travelers' commuting and transfer behavior based on those massive volumes of AFC data would enable the rail service operators to evaluate their service quality and optimize operation strategies. This paper proposes an efficient and effective data mining procedure to figure out the association rules, aiming to extract connectivity and correlation of passenger flow among different services lines in urban rail transit networks. A case study based on the Beijing Subway network is conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method. Using up to 28 million AFC smart card transaction data, we match and analyze travelers' trip chains to investigate the commuting trip patterns in terms of spatio-temporal distribution characteristics. An innovational non-nigh-to-five commuting behavior and traditional nine-to-five commuting behavior are divided by the obtained associated rules to ensure a more nuanced description of commuting behaviors. Further, the results indicated by stronger association rules (2-frequent itemset and 3-frequent itemset) also provide a better understanding of transfer behaviors, like the frequent transfers among different service lines, and potentially vulnerable stations in the network. The research outcomes can be used to assist rail transit service operators in developing optimal operation strategies like timetabling design to enhance the transfer performance between different rail lines. • An efficient and effective data mining procedure is developed to figure out the association rules, aiming to extract connectivity and correlation of passenger flow among different services lines. • An innovational non-nigh-to-five commuting behavior and traditional nine-to-five commuting behavior are divided by the obtained associated rules to ensure a more nuanced description of commuting behaviors. • A case study based on the Beijing Subway network is conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method. • Experimental results indicated by strong association rules provide a better understanding of transfer coordination in urban rail transit networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive electronic trip records have recently been utilized to infer people's trips for healthcare. Many inferential methods were developed to derive healthcare trips by taxi using GPS trajectory records, but little attention is paid to public transit, as a common travel mode for healthcare. This paper proposes a method to fill this gap by mining a big data of smart transit cards with spatio-temporal constraints. We demonstrate and validate this method in Beijing, China. The inferred trips achieve a high degree of consistency, in space and time, with empirically observed trips from a survey. The inferred trips are further used to identify spatial disparities in transit-based access to healthcare, which might have been overlooked by health policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]