Citilabs 2009 Asia-Pacific User ConferencePublic Transport Modeling in Singapore

using TRIPS and CUBETerence Ng

Manager, Service DevelopmentSBS Transit Ltd

Singapore

11 Mar 2009

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Presentation Outline• Some facts on Singapore

• Model Design and Applications

• Limitations and Challenges

• Migration to CUBE and its benefits

• Further development work

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Some facts on Singapore• Land area: 700 km2

• Population: 5 million

• Over 50% use public transport

• Daily Rides: – Bus (3.0 million)– Rail (1.6 million)

Public Transport in Singapore

• Bus/MRT/LRT are main modes• 2 major multi-modal operators

– SBS Transit– SMRT

SBS TransitBus AreaRail LinesSMRTBus AreaRail Lines

Central Area

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SBS TransitBus• 2,800 buses• 254 routes• 2.3 million rides daily• 16 bus interchanges, 16 terminals• Over 3,000 bus stopsRail• 360,000 rides daily• 15 MRT stations, 19 LRT stations

in operation

Model Design and Application

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Building up Modelling Expertise• Acquired TRIPS in 2001• Evaluate impact of route

changes• Assess viability of new route

proposals• Test many options before

determining the best proposal• Being self-sufficient in

transport modelling.

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Model Development• Maps from street directories• Link speeds from onboard

bus equipment• Lines information from

public transport guides• Demand matrices from

ticketing data• Development data from

various agencies

[ez-link reader][IDFC console]

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Model Structure

Demand Matrices• Origins and

destinations fromsmart card data

Service Information• Routes, headway, run

times, capacity,• Mode Type, fares,

operator

Assignment• Time Period - AM Peak 0630–0830 hrs

• User Classes- Adult Fares- Child/Student Fares- Student Pass

• Mode characteristics- Boarding Penalties- Transfer Penalties- Walk Factors- Wait Factors- Value of Time

Total Boarding and Passenger KM• By route, direction,

mode and operator

Load Profile• By route and direction at

nodes/stops

Stop-to-stop movements• By route and direction

INPUT OUTPUTPROCESS

Base Map• Nodes (Bus stops,

MRT stations, interchanges, terminals)

• Links between nodes

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Calibration• Total Boarding and

Passenger KM by route and direction

• Total passenger volume leaving towns

• Station-to-Station movements for MRT

• Heaviest load points by route

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Major Applications• Implementation of over 20 new

routes and more than 50 route changes (2001–2008)

• Commencement of North-East MRT Line and Sengkang LRT East Loop (2003)

• Opening of Punggol LRT East Loop and Sengkang LRT West Loop (2005)

Limitations and Challenges

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Strictly Public Transport• Demand matrices built

directly from smartcard data

• Does not account for effects on private transport modes

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Demand Matrix• Full details within

SBS Transit areas• Aggregated data

between SBS Transit and SMRT areas

• No data within SMRT areas

• SMRT Rail Captive zones need treatment

• Difficult to manipulate in *.mat format

Central Area

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Total Generalised Costs• Usually satisfied at

global level and easy to skim

• Does not sufficiently address the affected minority

• More details needed at precinct and route level

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Limited Output from Reports• Planners need detailed breakdown of

passenger impact in terms of fares, journey times and number of transfers for any service proposal

• Too many skimming process slow down model run times

• Detailed computations still done manually outside of model

Migration to CUBE and its benefits

Migration to CUBE• Upgraded to CUBE since Jul 2008• Ease updating of network and matrices• Enhance evaluation of

proposals• Automate generation of

useful planning data• Better interface with own

systems

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Program Control• Script vs Menu based

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Network Map• Use of layers

• Easier to navigate and update interactively

• Wider choice of colour sets

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Inputs in Database Formats• Nodes, links, matrix

records can be maintained in DBF formats easily editable in Excel

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Assignment• Program boxes reduced significantly• Can put more functions in each program group

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Fare Matrices• Use of station-to-station fares • Better represent through-fares between rail lines

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Select Link• Ability to select line, nodes, links or a

combination of criteria

• For example: -MW[1] = SELECTLINK((L=12809-40025* + LINE=2400) & (L=12200-40026* + LINE=2400))

for a new bus service connecting 2 different MRT stations

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Reports• Transfers between

operators, modes

• Stop-to-stop movements

• Path analysis

Further Development Work

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Further Development Work• Sensitivity tests of assignment parameters

and fare models• Improve quality of reports• Matrix estimation using

screen line flows• Path analysis with

through fares

QUESTIONS?