User-based representation of time-resolved multimodal public transportation networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a user-based framework for analyzing time-resolved multimodal public transportation networks, considering travel time, variability, and transfers, to evaluate efficiency and connectivity in urban areas.

Contribution

It presents a novel methodological approach that integrates travel times, variability, and transfers for comprehensive analysis of multimodal transportation systems.

Findings

Identified efficient transportation connections across multiple modes.

Quantified network efficiency relative to demand and car alternatives.

Revealed non-trivial connectivity patterns in French urban areas.

Abstract

Multimodal transportation systems can be represented as time-resolved multilayer networks where different transportation modes connecting the same set of nodes are associated to distinct network layers. Their quantitative description became possible recently due to openly accessible datasets describing the geolocalised transportation dynamics of large urban areas. Advancements call for novel analytics, which combines earlier established methods and exploits the inherent complexity of the data. Here, our aim is to provide a novel user-based methodological framework to represent public transportation systems considering the total travel time, its variability across the schedule, and taking into account the number of transfers necessary. Using this framework we analyse public transportation systems in several French municipal areas. We incorporate travel routes and times over multiple transportation modes to identify efficient transportation connections and non-trivial connectivity patterns. The proposed method enables us to quantify the network's overall efficiency as compared to the specific demand and to the car alternative.