Bus Section Importance Evaluation Based on Improved Bus Network Model

To explore the influence of bus route attributes on bus sections, define the difference in importance between bus sections, and quantify bus section evaluation, this study analyzed the construction of the traditional bus network route model, considering two aspects: the attributes of the bus routes and the tightness of bus route connections. A space-weighted route network model (Space-w-R) and its matrix representation was proposed. To reflect the influence of route attributes on sections, considering the subordination between bus routes and sections, the Space-w-R model of the bus network was transformed into a bus route-section bipartite network to realize the mapping of route attributes to bus sections. Combining the route attributes with the operation state information (transport capacity index, cost index) of bus sections, the entropy weight method was used to weigh the indexes, and the information entropy was used as the measurement standard of index weight to construct the weighted evaluation matrix of sections. The optimal ideal index set and the worst ideal index set in the index set were found, and then the closeness index of each section to the ideal index set was calculated as the final evaluation result of the importance of the sections. Taking the bus network in Beijing as a verification case, this study collected the geographic location information and operation information of bus routes and stations and constructed a Space-w-R model. Through the analysis of the network model, it was found that the weight distribution of the network conforms to the power law distribution, and there are differences between routes. In Beijing, 66.11% of the bus routes have transfer routes between 10-50, indicating that the Beijing bus route network has high connectivity. There are more than three transfer stations between 20.12% of the routes with other routes, indicating that there are a few bus routes in the network that are extremely close to others, and there is a high overlap of routes. Combined with the evaluation method proposed in this paper, the importance of 22040 bus sections in Beijing is sorted, and it is found that the sections with high importance are generally distributed in large communities or business areas. Through a comparative analysis of the ranking results with the 14 existing sections contained in the bus lanes in Beijing, it is found that all the bus sections contained in the bus lanes belong to the top 10% of the ranking, which verifies the feasibility of the method in this study. Simultaneously, it is found that bus lanes are not built in some road sections with high importance rankings. These roads can be used as candidates for bus lanes in Beijing. © 2022, Editorial Department of China Journal of Highway and Transport. All right reserved.