Evaluation-of-Transit-Systems'-Robustness-under-Service-Disruptions

Abstract

In this study, the robustness of transit systems is evaluated under the context of service disruptions. Transit systems are not equally reliable in the presence of these disruptions. Therefore, determining how the design of the transit network affects its ability to handle them is important to measure robustness. Due to the complexity of this problem, several approximations, assumptions and constraints have been considered to help approach this study. The route-based network graphs are constructed by processing the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data of transit systems. To provide a comprehensive snapshot of the robustness, three metrics are considered in response to disruptions: the in-paper defined "rerouting coefficient", the size of the giant strongly connected component (GSCC), and changes in edge betweenness centrality. Evaluation of these three metrics was performed by comparing transit systems in two different cities: Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in Toronto and the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) in Quebec. Under the assumptions and constraints of this study, the TTC outperformed the RTC with regards to the robustness of the transit networks.