Multi-modal management actions for public transport disruptions: an agent-based simulation

In a public transport disruption, management of the disruption plays a significant role in reducing passengers’ inconvenience. This research aims to evaluate how the delay that passengers experience in a public transport disruption can be reduced, using multi-modal management actions. We consider various traffic management actions implemented in real-time to mitigate the downsides of a disruption, including route and mode adjustments, and capacity increase. Transport operators can implement disruption management actions, such as assigning more vehicle capacity/frequency to the running services; and can inform passengers about the disruption. The benefits of providing updated information to mitigate the downsides of the disruption are large, and could possibly lead to a better mode and route choice. The simulation of the impacts and dynamics of a real-life disruption in our study is performed by an agent-based framework. We demonstrate how much delay could be avoided by implementing multi-modal management actions and analyzing the extent to which they change passengers’ travel behavior, in terms of travel mode and travel time. Results indicate that employing multi-modal management can lead to a reduction of 18% in the delay of affected passengers, when information and capacity management are used together.