Analyzing customized bus service on a multimodal travel corridor: an analytical modeling approach

Customized bus (CB) service, a new type of public transport service, has emerged in many big cities. The few existing research works on CB have been conceptual and descriptive, based on statistical approaches. This paper analyzes the provision of CB by applying analytical approaches based on demand analysis and network modeling. Several alternative travel modes are considered. The choices of mode and route/service are captured by a logit-type formula, and heterogeneous travelers with a discrete set of values of time (VOTs) are considered. Numerical analysis from one idealized corridor indicates that the introduction of CB service could have a significant effect on mode shift, especially for long-distance trips. Three factors, including CB fare, usage of bus lane, and the out-of-vehicle travel time of CB service, are identified that significantly affect the mode shift performance. Another numerical example on a realistic travel corridor in Beijing is conducted to investigate the influence of CB service on social welfare.