Abstract
This paper aims to develop a GIS-aid planning system for public transportation in depopulated rural areas. The proposed system consists of travel demand forecasting system that evaluates the profitability of transportation planning alternatives, and evaluation system for non-monetary indices (i. e., Quality of Life, Customer Satisfaction and Equality). Travel frequency is estimated by using a discrete-continuous model, which is based on a non-compensatory utility function to represent conjunctive choice strategies. QOL and CS indices are calculated using an ordered probit model. Empirical analysis indicates that the proposed system is useful to evaluate the effects of improving levels of public transportation services and can consequently contdbute to develop public transportation plans efficiently.
