Author Archives: Oded Cats

hEART2017 conference

Posted on by
Reply

I participate in the hEART conference which take place this week in the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa.

After hosting it last year in Delft, it is great to attend it in the campus where I have studied for four years and excited to share the experience gained in the following studies:

  1. “Coordinating Merging Public Transport Operations Using Holding Control Strategies” presented by Georgios Laskaris
  2. “Tactical Service Design and Vehicle Allocation Optimization“, which I present
  3. “An Integrated Trip Assignment Model for Passenger Rail Systems” presented by Flurin Hänseler
  4. “Traveler’s Perceived Safety at Bus Stops in Stockholm, Sweden”, presented by Roberto Fernandez Abenoza

EWGT 2017 conference

Posted on by
Reply

Our public transport group presented two papers on EURO Working Group on Transportation Meeting (EWGT) conference that took place in Budapest this week.

The following papers were presented:

  1. Yap M., Cats O., van Oort N. and Hoogendoorn S. (2017). Data-driven Transfer Inference for Public Transport Journeys during Disruptions. EWGT2017 (20th Euro Working Group on Transportation), Budapest, Hungary.
  2. Narayan J., Cats O., van Oort N. and Hoogendoorn S. (2017). Performance Assessment of Fixed and Flexible Public Transport in a Multi Agent Simulation Framework. EWGT2017 (20th Euro Working Group on Transportation), Budapest, Hungary.

Thredbo 15 conference

Posted on by
Reply

Our public transport group presents three papers on Thredbo 15 (International Conference Series on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport) which takes place in Stockholm this week.

The following papers are presented:

  1. Yap M., Cats O., Yu S. and van Arem B. Crowding Valuation in Urban Tram and Bus Transportation based on Smart Card Data – presented by Menno Yap
  2. Alonso-Gonzalez M.J., van Oort N., Cats O. and Hoogendoorn S. Urban Demand Responsive Transport in the Mobility as a Service Ecosystem: Its Role and Potential Market Share – presented by Maria Alonso-Gonzalez
  3. Shelat S., Huisman R. and van Oort N. Understanding the Trip and User Characteristics of the Combined Bicycle and Transit Mode – presented by Niels van Oort

Network evolution

Posted on by
Reply

Network indicators are widely used for characterizing  transport network topology and its performance as well as provide insights on possible developments. Public transport networks change dramatically over time and are have a significant impact on urban and regional development. The structure of transport networks is the outcome of a large number of infrastructure investment decisions taken over a long time span. Little is known however on how rail bound public transport networks and their network indicators have evolved into their current form as it is surprisingly difficult to obtain data on historical network states.

This study reports a longitudinal analysis of the topological evolution of a multimodal rail network by investigating the dynamics of its topology for the case of Stockholm in 1950-2025. The starting year marks the opening of the metro system while the end year is set to mark the completion of the current development plan.

In the link below you can get an impression of the network evolution with 5 years intervals. Note the changes in coverage (scale) and density.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/iklil4shu2wgd6b/Evolution.wmv?dl=0

Based on a compilation of network topology and service properties, a year-on-year analysis of changes in global network efficiency and directness as well as local nodal centrality were conducted.

Changes in network topology exhibit smooth long-term technological and spatial trends as well as the signature of top-down planning interventions. Stockholm rail network evolution is characterized by contraction and stagnation periods followed by network extensions and is currently undergoing a considerable densification, marking a shift from peripheral attachment to preferential attachment. It is remarkable that in 2025 the Stockholm network will offer the same level of directness, connectivity and accessibility that were offered in 1950 for a much smaller area. This is driven by the dramatic shift in the modal composition of Stockholm rail-bound network during the analysis period.

Read the full paper following this link.