Basic analysis on the relationship between the number of passengers transported on route buses and people flows

Abstract

The declining birthrate, aging population, and increasing motorization are making it difficult to maintain public transportation systems due to a decline in supply capacity and a decrease in the number of users. Therefore, there is a need for an efficient public transportation network that a can improve transportation performance with less supply capacity, based on an understanding of the demand for bus use in relation to the people flows. To evaluate the consistency between the current bus routes and frequencies and the people flows, we analyzed the relationship between the data of transportation performance by bus route system and the amount of people moving by using people flows data. Based on the results, we discussed the factors that contribute to the high or low efficiency of bus routes in terms of routes, frequency, and land use. The results also suggest the need to establish traffic nodes and bus lanes, and to reduce the number of competing routes in order to improve public transportation efficiency.