Effective Modeling for a Distance-Based Fare Structure with a Time-Expanded Network

This study addresses the appropriateness of a passenger assignment model for a distance-based fare structure that recently has received attention from transit agencies, along with technological advances in electronic fare payment and global positioning systems. Among the two major passenger assignment models, the study identifies that the schedule-based model has an advantage over the frequency-based model for representing a distance-based fare structure. The schedule-based model that explicitly traces passenger routes enables the accurate calculation of a distance-based fare and its variant. In addition, the study addressed the implementation issues associated with the schedule-based model. As the schedule-based model is considered to require more data than the widely-used frequency-based model, the study suggests a way to mitigate this data requirement issue by approximating the timetable at each stop with the same data used for the implementation of the frequency-based model. A case study on the field application of the schedule-based model and its availability as a ready-to-use option in most commercial software for travel demand modeling is described