Multisource Data-Driven Evaluation Framework to Assess the Performance of Dedicated Bus Lanes: A Case Study in Chongqing Metropolitan, China

Abstract

Dedicated bus lane (DBL) is one of the effective measures to improve transit system efficiency and further promote transit priority. Then, the performance assessment of DBLs turns out to be an essential task for better reflecting the interests of all stakeholders. To this end, this paper presents a data-driven and multidimensional framework to objectively and accurately assess the detailed performance of DBLs from the perspective of passengers, government, and operators, respectively, in which multiple data sources (i.e., IC card and GPS data) and corresponding mining technologies are adopted to establish a series of criteria, enabling a before-and-after comparison for DBL opening. The proposed model has been applied to evaluate the efficiency of the DBL system in the city of Chongqing, China. The results reveal the benefits of opening DBLs, especially for government interests, in which DBLs use less public resources to expand more public welfare. But its role in strengthening transit system competitiveness is diminished, because the opening of DBLs did not significantly increase speed and volume.