Potential urban-railway-feeder bus stations mining and economic benefit evaluation based on taxi GPS data

Efficient connectivity between regular buses and urban railways is crucial for a well-functioning urban transportation system. However, current research only focuses on regular feeder buses without exploring the benefits and flexibility of diversified feeder buses. This study utilizes taxi GPS data and road network data to identify potential bus feeder stations, taking into account taxi demand data. The paper also proposes criteria for evaluating the adaptability of diversified feeder buses, incorporating bus classification parameters, and establishes an economic efficiency model for passengers, bus operators, and the environment. Additionally, an approach for optimizing the feeder mode based on economic efficiency evaluation is developed. The effectiveness of potential station demand mining and economic efficiency evaluation of feeder buses is verified through a case study of the Weiqu South Terminal of Xi’an Metro Line 2. The results indicate that the original NO.740 feeder bus route requires four additional stops, and the dynamic-scheduling bus of the dedicated-route bus is the optimal bus transit mode for meeting the feeder demand of Weiqu South Metro station.