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Sustainable Transport Data Collection and Application: China Urban

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DOI: 10.1155/2013/879752

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Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Volume 2013, Article ID 879752, 10 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/879752

Research Article
Sustainable Transport Data Collection and Application:
China Urban Transport Database

Tian Jiang, Zhongyi Wu, Yu Song, Xianglong Liu, Haode Liu, and Haozhi Zhang
China Urban Sustainable Transport Research Center, China Academy of Transportation Sciences, Ministry of Transport,
Beijing 100029, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Tian Jiang; peter zealot@hotmail.com

Received 14 July 2013; Revised 13 October 2013; Accepted 21 November 2013

Academic Editor: Geert Wets

Copyright © 2013 Tian Jiang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Transport policy making process of national and local governments should be supported by a comprehensive database to ensure a
sustainable and healthy development of urban transport. China Urban Transport Database (CUTD) has been built to play such a
role. This paper is to make an introduction of CUTD framework including user management, data warehouse, and application
modules. Considering the urban transport development features of Chinese cities, sustainable urban transport development
indicators are proposed to evaluate the public transport service level in Chinese cities. International urban transport knowledge
base is developed as well. CUTD has been applied in urban transport data processing, urban transport management, and urban
transport performance evaluation in national and local transport research agencies, operators, and governments in China, and it
will be applied to a broader range of fields.

1. Introduction (ii) http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/tools/data tools/

fhwasa09002/ developed by Federal Highway Admin-
With the economy growing rapidly in recent years, the istration (FHWA), USA,
total number of vehicles increases dramatically and leads
(iii) National Household Travel Survey: http://nhts.ornl.
to urban traffic congestion, environmental pollution, and
gov/,
energy issues. To enhance the level of service for travelling
in urban areas, both central and local governments in China (iv) http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ developed by Fed-
have applied suitable strategies and policies to reduce the eral Highway Administration (FHWA), USA,
traffic congestion and air pollution. Public transport has (v) Online resource as of 2010: http://www.fmcsa.dot.
been considered as the most promising way to solve these gov/facts-research/facts-figures/analysis-statistics/
promising way to solve these problems and is given the dashome.htm,
priority in urban transport development. The State Council (vi) Highway Performance Monitoring System: http://
of China, at the beginning of 2013, issued The Guideline on www.nhtsa.gov/Data/,
Further Implementing the Prioritized Development of Urban
Public Transport, which ensures the leading role of public (vii) http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/ developed
transit in urban transport. by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
There are several successful cases of database to provide (FMCSA), USA,
urban transport data to support policy making, transport (viii) http://mobility.tamu.edu/ developed by National
planning, and evaluation. Several institutions around the Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
world are working on data collection and sharing. We list USA,
online resources of their databases as follows: (ix) http://www.nra.ie/ developed by Federal Transit
(i) http://www.regiolab-delft.nl/ developed by Region Administration (FTA), USA,
Laboratory Delft, Netherlands, (x) http://www.astra.admin.ch/,
2 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

(xi) National Transit Database: http://www.uitp.org/ 2. The Framework of CUTD

publications/.
The framework of CUTD includes modules of user manage-
Problems exist in the reuse of traffic data, with various ment, data warehouse, and application [7, 8]. Indicators based
data formats, different aggregations, and different densities on Chinese urban transport features are proposed to support
of metainformation (when existing). Miska et al. (2007) transport development policy making and the assessment of
developed an International Traffic Database (ITDb) to deal development strategies’ effects.
with these problems by applying data name matching or The three modules of CUTD: user management, data
translation to form a comprehensive standardized data pool, warehouse, and application (see Figure 1) are designed to
which can improve efficiency of the database [1, 2]. realize the database’s functions of storing transport data
ITDb is a database that focuses on collecting and pro- (ranging from raw data to statistical analysis results), running
viding urban road traffic data (vehicle speed, traffic volume statistical analysis, and making evaluations. Each of the mod-
occupancy, etc.) in cities all over the world to provide help ules is designed and developed independently to focus on
to academic researches or other applications [3, 4]. Another both technical aspects and the satisfaction of user demands
US database, the National Transit Database (NTD), which [9]. The development of CUTD is based on its final operation.
focuses on data collection and application of public transport To meet the requirement of high performance, CUTD data
data, is different from ITDb [5]. The NTD is developed to has to be highly transfer-efficient and be of high quality. Other
satisfy the data requirements of all levels of governments and existing designs of databases, which are simply based on a
the public. The NTD can evaluate the performance of nation’s single set of data types, are different from CUTD.
public transport system and can be used to calculate the
amount of public transport system supporting funds. Public
transport service quality evaluation cannot be made since 2.1. User Management. CUTD users include data providers
daily service data is not collected. and decision makers. Highway companies, bus and metro
China Transport Statistical Information Network and operators, and statistic departments of governments are
China Public Transport Network are two nationwide trans- data providers who are required to register the database
port databases developed by Chinese companies and trans- and upload data regularly. All levels of governments and
port management agencies. However, the two databases have their supporting research agencies are decision makers who
many inadequacies which cannot meet the needs for urban can make use of the data analysis and the evaluation and
transport study or other practical application. The following simulation results to develop transport development strate-
are the current shortcomings of Chinese transport databases. gies. During the data uploading and user processes, the
database administrator implements data quality management
(i) No comprehensive urban transport database (with to ensure good data quality for the proper work of algorithms
data types including urban and suburban, domestic and tools. All datasets are strictly checked according to the
and international, public and private transport, GIS quality management rules, which require a minimum set of
and urban transport, etc.). metainformation.
(ii) No data uploading and downloading mechanisms. Other potential users of CUTD data include domestic and
(iii) No comparative analysis of urban transport data. international academic organizations (NGOs, universities,
specialists, etc.) and individuals. Different levels right to
(iv) No integrated decision making system.
the database are delivered to different groups of users. The
Since the existing transport databases are either not suit- Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China
able or comprehensive enough to monitor the development establishes a specific network for national and international
of public transit, evaluate policy effects on urban transport data exchange and cooperation.
improvements, and support decision making, an integrated
database needs to be established specially for sustainable 2.2. Data Warehouse. The data warehouse of CUTD includes
urban transport development [6]. three layers: geographic layer, transport layer, and data collec-
China Urban Transport Database (CUTD) is the first tion layer, which composite a stable and compact structure,
nationwide comprehensive urban transport database, with improving the robustness of CUTD.
various types of data such as urban transport network, infras-
tructure, individual travel, public transport, and pedestrian
data. The data sources of CUTD include GIS urban network 2.2.1. Geographic Layer. Based on GIS maps, the geographic
map, traffic control feedback, traffic monitoring system, layer provides map information that includes aspects of urban
public transport operation, and so forth. With abundant transport network and railway network, as shown by Figure 2.
and wide-covering urban transport data, CUTD supports Transport infrastructures are divided into two groups, the
decision-making, planning, management, and operation pro- link and the node, which can ensure a minimum set of
cess of urban transport, helping the development of safe, metainformation for the users to search and get access to.
convenient, efficient, economical, equitable, and sustainable
urban transport systems for Chinese cities. As a project 2.2.2. Transport Layer. Unlike the static urban transport
funded by Volvo Research and Educational Foundations structure information stored in the geographic layer, the
(VREF), CUTD is accessible to partners and colleagues from transport layer of data warehouse consists of comprehen-
all VREF Centers of Excellence (CoE). sive data of all moving objects in urban transport system,
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 3

China Urban Transport

Database (CUTD)

User management Data warehouse Modeling Application

Module Indicator
User registration Data collection
Firewall layer Simulation and evaluation

User permission Congestion monitoring

Energy efficiency
Geographic Transport
Operation log layer layer
Simulation and evaluation

Transport planning
Data quality audit
Transport financing

PT policy making

Figure 1: The framework of China Urban Transport Database.

Geographic layer Traffic layer

Urban transport network

Link Node
Toll gate Attributes Dynamics
Expressway Intersection
Local street Weaving area Position
Energy
Walkway Bus stop ID Type consumption Speed
Parking lot
Performance index OD volume Ridership
Tunnel Entrance
Bridge Exit
Flow
Light rail
Train station Travel time
Subway
Rail network Figure 3: Structure of the traffic layer of CUTD.

Figure 2: Structure of the geographic layer of CUTD.

data can be helpful to online traffic management, intelligent

dispatching of public transport modes or taxis.
including cars, buses, trains, motorcycles, bicycles, pedes-
trians, passengers, and so forth. Information including the
original attributes and dynamics describing the movement of 2.3. Application. The following (including but not limited)
objectives are all stored in this layer, as shown by Figure 3. are function modules which can be realized based on the
data warehouse of CUTD. These modules can support the
fulfillment of the urban transport development objectives of
2.2.3. Data Collection Layer. The data-collection layer con-
CUTD.
sists of real-time traffic data collected by road traffic detection
systems, which include the sensor type and location, the
penetration rate of probe vehicle, and mobile device informa- (i) Urban traffic simulation and evaluation [10, 11]. This
tion. The collection of this type of data needs the support of module can provide simulation of urban traffic con-
roadside detecting equipment, GSM equipment, or vehicle- ditions (road, urban rail, or pedestrian, etc.) and
infrastructure communication equipment. Real-time traffic evaluate traffic conditions.
4 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

(ii) Traffic congestion monitoring and management. This Table 1: Sustainable urban transport evaluation indicators.
module can dynamically monitor urban road traffic
condition and identify congestion links or nodes. Aspect Indicator
Road network density (km/km2 )
(iii) Energy consumption and emission monitoring and
Resident average travel time (min)
calculation.
Resident average transfer time (min)
(iv) Urban transport planning. Transportation Commute time by public transport (min)
(v) Urban transport investment cost-benefit analysis and function
Average speed at arterial roads (km/h)
public transport enterprises’ operation cost-audit and 300 m-radius coverage ratio of public transit
subsidy apportionment. station (%)
(vi) Public transport policy making support. Public transit network density (km/km2 )
Berths supply—demand ratio (%)
(vii) Travel service information.
Infrastructure invest/GDP (%)
Public transit invest sharing (%)
3. China Sustainable Urban Transport Economic and Financial subsidies sharing (%)
Evaluation Indicator System financial Average annual growth rate of urban transport
investment (%)
3.1. Sustainable Urban Transport Evaluation Indicators. For
a certain city, CUTD data can be applied in the assessment Public transport affordability (%)
of urban transport sustainable level and the evaluation of Household travel cost (%)
its public transport performance; therefore, the database Pedestrian path area per capita (m2 /person)
plays a significant supporting role in the urban transport Public transport and nonmotor share (%)
policy making process. The application of CUTD data can
provide help to all levels of governments to improve their Equity and safety Percentage of villages with PT services (%)
Accidental fatalities among 10,000 vehicles
urban transport development strategies and urban transport (person/10,000 vehicles)
management approaches.
Annual growth rate of major accidents (%)
Sustainable Urban Transportation System (SUTS) is a
crucial part of an energy-saving, environment-friendly, and Accidental economic loss (Yuan/vehicle)
people-oriented society. To make an urban transport devel- Fuel consumption per vehicle (liter/vehicle)
Energy
opment towards SUTS, the evaluation of the sustainability consumption Occupier of land (%)
of transport system should be carried out first. Establishing Traveler volume/road area (person/m2 )
an indicator system for the SUTS is a suitable work to start
Environmental Pollutant emission per vehicle (gram/vehicle)
with [12, 13]. The evaluation indicator system is preliminarily influences
composed of 6 aspects and 26 indicators as shown in Table 1. Traffic pollution sharing (%)
Management
Urban transportation management ability
capacity
3.2. Public Transport Performance Indicators. Giving priority
to urban public transport development has been regarded as
a right strategic choice for urban transport development in (4) Public transport operational level (e.g., transportation
Chinese cities. The Chinese government has made a plan to efficiency, vehicle-employee ratio, and public trans-
build a number of “Transit Metropolis” in the Twelfth Five- port vehicle number per one million people).
Year Transport Development Plan; therefore, the importance
of the establishment of a national public transport perfor- (5) Public transport information service level (e.g., bus
mance indicator system has appeared. The indicator system intelligent dispatching, electronic bus stop ratio).
can help evaluate and guide the public transport development (6) Safety and security level (e.g., fatalities per 10,000
in Chinese cities. vehicles, annual growth rate of major accidents).
The following 8 aspects are selected to set indicators for (7) Energy saving and emission reduction level (e.g., per-
the development of public transport performance indicator centage of bus using clean-energy, fuel consumption
systems [14]. per passenger/vehicle).
(1) Public transport infrastructure performance (e.g., the (8) Public transport industry standardization level (e.g.,
ratio of bus parking spaces in the station). public transport operation/service standardization,
public transport terminology, and glossary standard-
(2) Public transport service quality [15] (e.g., the avail- ization).
ability indicators, the convenience indicators, the cost
indictors, the comfortable indicators, and the safety
and security indicators). 4. Data Collection Methods
(3) Public transport industry economy level (e.g., invest- CUTD data can be obtained through the following three
ment cost-benefit analysis). channels.
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 5

(1) Ministry of Transport (MOT) and Ministry of data for the use by analysis system and monitoring system,
Finance (MOF) of China issued circular “Urban and and returns unqualified data for modification.
Rural Passenger Transport Fuel Subsidy” in the end of
2009. The central government will establish the “Pub- 5.2. Urban Public Transport Intelligent Control and Informa-
lic Transport Development Foundation” in the near tion Management System. This system includes two parts:
future. Referring to the experience of the US National taxi dispatching and information collection and intelligent
Transit Database (NTD), all fund receivers or all bus dispatching and control.
fund applicants might be required to report energy
consumption data and public transport development The taxi dispatching and information collection module
related data (such as public transport investment data, has functions of monitoring, data converging, and reporting
operation data, and maintenance data, etc.) to the generating. Taxi status monitoring, vehicle positioning, vehi-
nationwide urban transport database. cle alarming, and vehicle control can be realized by collecting
and managing taxi GPS information, driver information,
(2) MOT carries out urban passenger transport statistics and vehicle information through this module. These types
every year; therefore, the second data source can be of information can be integrated into a GIS program, which
developed by means of urban passenger transport can display vehicle position and driving route on maps.
statistics mechanism. Information of time, speed, vehicle, driver, and even vehicle
(3) As a tentative plan, cooperation with Chinese cities monitoring video can also be transmitted and displayed on
such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, different interfaces. Taxi dispatching can be compiled by
Jinan, Xi’an, and so forth can provide opportunities to applying various telecommunication measures considering
obtain dynamic traffic data and develop the prelimi- taxi information and the actual operational needs. Figure 6
nary dynamic data report system. Also, the number shows an application of this module in Beijing’s taxi dispatch-
of cooperation cities can be increased gradually in ing.
the future with the dynamic traffic data report system The intelligent bus dispatching and control module col-
extended. lects CAN bus information and GPS information and displays
the position, speed, schedule following status, and other
information of buses on real-time interfaces. This module
5. CUTD Application Examples has been applied in Dalian Development Area. There are
The application of CUTD has been pushed forward with the three view types of bus operation status: simulation view as
building of Urban Transport Planning, Control and Evalua- shown by Figure 7, track view, and schedule view as shown by
tion Lab, within which five systems including Urban Trans- Figure 8. Dispatching and managing tasks including arrival,
port Data Collection and Analysis System, Urban Public departure, operation, stop, return, and fault can be carried
Transport Intelligent Control and Information Management out by reviewing the real-time information and issuing
System, Urban Transport Data Management System, Urban instructions through communication tools integrated with
Transport Planning Decision-Making Supporting System, other functions.
Urban Transport Simulation and Evaluation System, and At the same time, all types of bus operation data are
Urban Public Transport Monitoring Information Platform stored into historical database as spreadsheets or operation
have been designed. log. The data can be reviewed by database users or analyzed
by statistical programs.
5.1. Urban Transport Data Collection and Analysis System.
This system has two main functions of data collection and 5.3. Urban Transport Data Management System. Within the
data analysis, which serve both data providers and decision information construction process, various operation systems
makers. As shown by Figure 4, urban transport data is have been developed by different departments according to
collected from data providers through extraction, cleansing, their own business demands. All those systems are separated
classification, and loading and imported into CUTD and from each other without any connection or communication.
IUTD (International Urban Transport Database). By analysis The Urban Transport Data Management System is built to
and comparison of the data from the two databases, query, unify all those databases. The following achievements are
statistical analysis, data mining, and information sharing can reached.
be realized. Various types of analysis results can then be
shown to decision makers (or other data users).
For data providers, this system offers functions of on-page 5.3.1. Data Management Specifications. Data storing specifi-
data reporting, spreadsheet uploading, and data approving to cation ensures the reliability and integrity of data transfer and
improve data input convenience and ensure high data quality. realizes the pooling and sharing of data.
Providers can log into the system and type in data directly Data coding specification provides unified conversion
on pages as shown by Figure 5 or fill data into standard interface and unified storage of multisource data.
formatted excel spreadsheets and upload the files onto the Data exchange specification provides standard data cod-
system. Uploaded data can be reviewed, modified, or deleted. ing rules and realizes the data exchange between heteroge-
Data approving function examines the data, stores qualified neous databases.
6 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

Query Statistical analysis Data mining Info sharing

CUTD IUTD
Bus lines City info
Bus stops URT stations Urban planning
Infrastructure Analysis
Vehicles Trains Population and
Integrated transport economy
Staff Staff Public transport
Bus companies URT companies Staff
Transport modes
Dispatching Dispatching Taxies Comparison
···
Scheduling Scheduling Taxi companies
··· ··· ···

Urban transport data collection and analysis system

Data extraction Data cleansing Data classification Data loading

Figure 4: The software framework of Urban Transport Data Collection and Analysis System.

Figure 7: Bus operation monitoring and dispatching.

Figure 5: On-page data reporting.

5.3.2. Collection of Domestic and International Urban Trans-

port Data. CUTD has included 58 spreadsheets with over
63.22 million pieces of data.
IUTD has included 51 spreadsheets with over 0.80 million
pieces of data.
Also, 0.974 million pieces of abnormal data have been
cleaned and filtered.
CUTD data collections include the following.

(i) Dynamic collection of real-time bus and taxi dis-

patching data.

(ii) Exchange of data from domestic statistical informa-

Figure 6: Taxi position monitoring based on GIS. tion platform.
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 7

Figure 8: Bus schedule following status.

Figure 9: The interface of Urban Transport Data Management
System.
(iii) Collection of data from mastered basic researches and
original surveys.
(iv) Collection of relevant data from surveys in typical
cities.
(v) Collection of relevant data from surveys in transport
enterprises.
(vi) Collection of relevant result data from special surveys
in cities by transport management departments.
(vii) Collection of historical data (from urban transport Figure 10: Congestion status display.
yearbooks or transport yearbooks).
(viii) Collection of fuel consumption data of urban-rural
passenger transport and rural water passenger trans- 5.4.2. Transport Infrastructure Investment-Benefit Analysis
port. Model. By using operation scheduling, real-time dispatch-
Classifications of IUTD data include the following. ing, infrastructure, and other data and carrying out subsidy
test [17], passenger traffic calculation, and other data mining
(i) Collection of data from basic researches. technology to get investment-benefit and traffic operation
(ii) Collection of relevant result data from surveys in benefit information, which provide dynamic parameters for
cities. evaluation and display. This model can achieve the compari-
son of different transport infrastructure investment options
5.3.3. A Unified Data Interface for Planning, Simulation, (e.g., the comparison between tram and BRT) to provide
Monitoring, and Evaluation. By developing the functions of references to governors or investors on decision-making.
data sharing and exchanging, a unified data interface for
planning, simulation, monitoring, and evaluation is provided 5.4.3. Urban Traffic Congestion Analysis Model. By carrying
[16]. As shown in Figure 9, the Urban Transport Data Man- out floating car data map matching and calculation, com-
agement System can realize four main functions including bined with path speculation, traffic trend judgment, feature
basic data element management, information resource menu fusion, and other data processing measures, this model can
management, data exchange management, and authorization provide traffic conditions and the average speed of buses.
management. This model has been applied in the congestion analysis of
Beijing. Congestion levels are displayed on road maps as
5.4. Urban Transport Planning Decision-Making Supporting shown by Figure 10. Congestion data including influencing
System. This system has four models providing evaluation time, period, and results is stored in congestion database.
data for urban development indicators, public transport
service quality, and future planning to support transport
planning decision-making. 5.4.4. Urban Transport Energy Environmental Policy Evalu-
ation Model. By using vehicle and operation data from the
5.4.1. Urban Public Transport Planning Model. By analyzing urban transport database, energy consumption and emission
basic travel information (collected from daily travel sur- can be calculated to provide support to the evaluation of
vey and bus passenger survey) and geospatial information transport energy and environmental policies.
(including bus geographic data and socioeconomic data) Functions of this model include the following.
from urban transport database, this model can achieve travel
plan analysis, bus corridor classification, bus line planning, (i) Urban transport energy demand scenario analysis
public transport optimization program design, and public and forecast.
transport program review to support decision-making by (ii) Urban transport emission scenario analysis and fore-
public transport managers. cast.
8 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

Figure 12: Operation safety indicators scoring of Zhengzhou Bus

Company.

Figure 11: A simulation of a public transport hub.

development level by weighting the indexes. Figure 12 shows
the operation safety indicators scoring of Zhengzhou Bus
Company. Except for the scoring of safety indicators, from
(iii) Evaluation of transport development impacts on
the interface it can be seen that there are also scoring of con-
future urban environment.
venience indicators, comfort indicators, reliability indicators,
(iv) Evaluation of urban transport impacts on health. satisfaction indicators, and energy saving (environmental)
(v) Estimation of vehicle and operation line energy con- indicators.
sumption.
5.6. Urban Public Transport Monitoring Information Platform.
(vi) Emission hot spot analysis. In response to the national public transport development
(vii) Evaluation of energy saving and emission reduction priority strategy and a series of regulatory strategies, as well
effects. as guidelines and guidance of the Ministry of Transport,
surveys and expert discussions were carried out in Chengdu,
5.5. Urban Transport Simulation and Evaluation System. This Xi’an, Zhengzhou, and Shanghai. The Urban Public Transport
system includes urban road network simulation and evalu- Monitoring Information Platform was designed and devel-
ation model and public transport service quality evaluation oped. Monitoring of urban public transport infrastructures,
model. passenger traffic, operation smoothness, and security and
emergency responding is realized by collecting and analyzing
bus and urban rail transport data. Evaluation of urban public
5.5.1. Urban Road Network Simulation and Evaluation Model. transport development is made according to the Urban Public
This model is based on microsimulation software, VISSIM, Transport Development Indicator System. Strong support is
which can realize the simulation of traffic status at different provided to promote the national “Public Transport City”
types of road sections and junctions under different control demonstration construction projects.
types, different signal timing, different speed limits, or dif-
ferent deceleration controls. The model can get relevant data
5.6.1. Urban Public Transport Development Evaluation. By
(infrastructure and transport user data) from urban transport
pooling static data and dynamic data, obtaining data with
database and apply the data in simulation model construction
statistical measures, and making comparisons with the data
and model calculation. Outputs of this model are values of
a year earlier, macrojudgment of urban transport situations
evaluation indicators and 3D simulation video which can
can be made. This function can assist the evaluation of traffic
show the simulated traffic condition vividly and intuitively.
management program implementation effects and provide
One of the applications of this model is simulation and
data supports to the exploration of the interaction law
evaluation of public transport hubs, as shown by Figure 11.
between different departments.
Both the move of public transport vehicles and the move
of passengers are simulated. By inputting different groups of
vehicle and passenger data, different usage statuses can be 5.6.2. Bus
demonstrated and different indicator values can be obtained Infrastructure Monitoring. By monitoring infrastructure, the
to do evaluations. Also, infrastructure data can be modified to development of public transport lines, stations, and vehi-
meet different operation and travel demands, as a simulation cles can be mastered and support can be provided to the
of infrastructure design or transformation. Evaluations and monitoring and evaluation of urban public transport devel-
comparisons of different designs can then be carried out. opment, and the strategic development planning decisions.
Also, policy support can be provided to further strengthen
5.5.2. Public Transport Service Quality Evaluation Model. infrastructure construction.
This model can dynamically correlate index system and bus In terms of vehicles, vehicle type distribution (e.g., new-
operation database to make trend analysis of various indi- energy vehicle percentage, and vehicle age distribution) and
cators and comprehensively evaluate urban public transport indicators such as bus unit number per 10 thousand people
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 9

Figure 14: Dynamic subway passenger data demonstration.

Figure 13: Congestion level of a major bus line network in
Zhengzhou.

research on urban transport energy and greenhouse gas

emission reduction.
are counted to support the acquisition and maintenance of
vehicles by bus companies. Security and Emergency Responding. The monitoring of
security and emergency responding focuses on enterprise-
Passenger Traffic Analysis. The passenger traffic analysis level indicators including the number of over speed alarm,
module analyzes the spatial and temporal distribution of abnormal brake alarm, abnormal door switch alarm, and
urban passengers and is used to guide bus line and bus stop accidents.
planning and the dispatching coordination of bus operators.
5.6.3. Urban Rail Transport. In line level, by real-time
(i) As the most basic indicators, passenger density and monitoring and comparing passenger entering and exiting
distribution are analyzed to provide basic data for hot stations, passenger flow direction and moving trend can be
spot analysis, congestion analysis, and bus corridor dynamically demonstrated in forms of vector charts, stacked
building. charts, and detailed statistics. Figure 14 shows the passenger
data of Beijing Subway Line 1. The entering, exiting, and
(ii) Main stop load factor reflects the distribution of total passenger volumes are demonstrated in the form of a
passengers waiting at bus stops. histogram. Passenger flow levels are displayed by different
colors on the line map.
(iii) Key bus line passenger distribution provides data Based on urban rail passenger sorting model, key indi-
support to transport planning and bus dispatching cators (e.g., line load factor) are analyzed, by fine-grained
coordination. monitoring of passenger traffic in each direction and each
station.
Public Transport Monitoring. Making use of the research
achievement of congestion model, the real-time matching 6. Conclusion and Future Work
of bus GPS data with nearly 80,000 lines’ data and nearly
12,000,000 pieces of IC card data, the analysis of key bus line In this paper we have introduced China Urban Transport
operation can be realized based on GIS. Database, a user-oriented platform for policy makers. This
By monitoring bus passenger flows during different study has proposed an indicator system of Sustainable Urban
periods in morning peaks and evening peaks, the system Transportation System tailored for the current situation of
can analyze the spatial and temporal distribution of bus urban development in China. The results of this study provide
passengers between key areas and find out big passenger flows the evaluation basis for sustainable urban transportation in
between key areas. The system can also evaluate and describe China. CUTD will be the primary source of information
congestion level of road network and bus line network and statistics on the urban transportation systems of China,
based on road grade and bus speed, as what was applied in serving to improve China’s sustainable urban transport devel-
Zhengzhou shown by Figure 13. opment.
As a three-year project, the platform has been established
Energy Saving and Emission Reduction. Bus energy consump- in 2011 based on the framework proposed. Functions of
tion monitoring system analyzes vehicle energy consump- simulation and evaluation, congestion monitoring, energy
tion, CO2 emission, intensity, fuel consumption structure, efficiency, transport planning, and public transport policy
and vehicle type structure according to emission standards. making have been implemented by corresponding systems.
It plays an important role in helping understand the energy However, transport financing function is still waiting to be
consumption, operation, and energy saving of transport realized; databases still need to be expanded and improved;
system. Effective monitoring and statistics of vehicle emission communications between different systems need to be
is the basic measure to reduce pollution, save energy, and strengthened. It is also important to improve the applicability
reduce emission. It can also lay the foundation for future of the various indicators, the scientific and operability of the
10 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

weight of each indicator, so greater adaptability is needed for [13] Y. Tyrinopoulos and C. Antoniou, “Public transit user satisfac-
the next stage of the study. tion: variability and policy implications,” Transport Policy, vol.
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