An isochrones based public transport stops optimization technique

The one of the most vital public transport problems in cities is discrepancy between transport systems and numerous requirements to urban mobility. One of the crucial tasks is optimization of bus stops location for purposes of public transport usability and convenience. Most of current methods of solving such problems omit various obstacles and models of pedestrian motion. The study proposes a new method, which calculates walking time from bus stops using a method of building isochrones. The method provides polygons of various forms to represent what points an individual can reach within various times. This method takes into account a model of the pedestrian motion as well as natural obstacles like rivers, buildings or roads which prevent citizens from walking directly. A new application simulates pedestrian accessibility zones for different types of pedestrians who move at different speed. The application also calculates an area of these zones and the ratio of the area of each zone and the total area of the district. The developed software was used in the city of Samara (Russia). To simulate pedestrian accessibility a city district situated on its geographical center were selected. After obtaining the results of the simulation, we analyzed geo-data and made recommendations on changing bus route number 2 by adding new bus stops. The accessibility of one of the zones has increased after the changes, so the proposed method can be used in intelligent decision support systems.