Analytical model for determination of optimum characteristics of feeder service for uncoordinated public transit systems

The feeder bus network design problem has been an area of interest for most researchers and practitioners for a long time. While many studies have focused on coordinated transit systems, there is a noticeable lack of research on feeder services related to uncoordinated transit systems. Previous studies have predominantly analysed the key decision variables of feeder services; headway, feeder route, and feeder vehicle size, in isolation or by considering only one or two variables at a time. This study aims to address this limitation by integrating all these variables into a single model for optimization. The theoretical model development uses a fundamental approach considering the decision variables; route length, feeder vehicle size, feeder headway & transit headway and their interrelationships are identified. The fundamental relationships developed are further enhanced using an analytical approach in generating the relationships among the variables. The analytical model developed is applied to a case study considering the coastal railway line for a single-sided demand scenario. For varying demand conditions, the vehicle capacities are identified and the selected headways are developed respectively. The results demonstrate the model's effectiveness, providing guidelines for optimizing decision variables when introducing feeder bus routes in uncoordinated transit networks.