Visualisation of Transit Passenger's Mobility from Automatic Fare Collection Data (AFC): Case Study of Hubli–Dharwad BRTS

Abstract

The automatic fare collection system is an essential part of many public transportation systems and adopting more and more by public transit agencies. Even though the primary purpose is to collect revenue, they also produce large quantities of transaction data. The produced data is much needed for many transit planners for the long-term planning of transit network requirements. This paper aims to evaluate the application of automatic fare collection data, focusing on the visualisation of the aggregate pattern of passenger characteristics in terms of boarding and alighting values. Hubli–Dharwad Bus Rapid Transit System (HDBRTS) was used as a case study. The passenger flow characteristics are recognized by the spatial distribution of six months boarding and alighting data of all the network stations. The interactive plots were developed and analysed to understand passenger mobility variations between network stations concerning different days of the week. Thus, ultimately, the paper gives a complete and inclusive view of the passenger's flow characteristics. It helps transits agencies take decisions on the utility-based priority for improving strategies on various available routes of the network. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.