A Study On The Planning And Design Methods Of Express Bus Lines In Small And Medium-sized Cities

Nowadays,the rapid economic development and the increase in motor vehicles have brought severe traffic congestion in some small and medium-sized cities.Most of the small and medium-sized cities do not have such a large rail transit capacity to carry the passengers.The short of public transportation resouses and single choice of travel modes have largely limit people’s daily travel.Given development priority to the fast and convenient public transportation is one of the important means to solve the traffic congestion problem.The express bus line is a new mode of conventional bus lines which usually has fewer stations and faster speeds.By designing the express bus line,we can develop a rapid transit system which will be suitable for small and medium-sized cities and provide a basis for urban public transportation planning.Based on the residents’ travel data,this paper analyzed the commuting characteristics of residents and the features of bus operation in small and medium-sized cities,and then obtained the OD prediction methods of bus stations.Secondly,combining the four-stage method to obtain the passenger flow prediction model of the bus corridor,this paper predicted and analyzed the main passenger flow passages of the bus corridors in small and medium cities.Thirdly,this paper proposed the steps for planning the express bus lines by combining the characteristics of small and medium-sized cities and selected the express bus lines stations based on the OD of bus stations.Whatsmore,in order to obtain a optimal departure frequency of the express bus line,a cooperative model of the express bus lines and the conventional bus line was established and solved based on the genetic algorithm.Finally,by using the analytic hierarchy process(AHP)to filter the evaluation indexes of conventional bus,the paper constructed the evaluation index system of express bus lines from the network structure,passenger transport effect,service level,and socio-economic indicators,and gave detailed index content and calculation method as well.By studying the design methods of the express bus lines in small and medium-sized cities,we could effectively solve the people’s travel problem,improve the service quality of public transport,and alleviate urban traffic congestion.First of all,in order to better integrate the design methods with the real situation,this article studied some bus lines in Guilin,and then presented the planning and design plan of express bus line in this city.Besides,the article evaluated the plan rigorously.Finally,the article proved applicability and feasibility of the method which designs the express bus line in small and medium cities.