In light of the automated fare collection data, how did the travel patterns of transit riders in Tehran change following COVID-19?

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PHD candidate, Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran

Abstract

The spread of COVID-19 caused some problems in public transportation. The pandemic created new challenges for developing countries like Iran, where public transportation is already plagued by many problems. As a result of COVID-19 concerns, it was speculated that unpredictable travel patterns would result. Based on Automatic Fare Collection data, in which passengers use a smartcard to enter a stop, this study evaluates this speculation. The dataset includes one month of transactions for each of the three COVID-19-related years (2019, 2020, 2021) in Tehran, the country's capital. By using time series clustering, it was found that a new pattern of travel has emerged. Before vaccination, most origins were in the eastern part of the city; whereas, in the new era, most of the origins are in the western part of the city.The peak hours have also undergone a significant change. Prior to the pandemic, the peak hour occurred between 7 and 8 o'clock in the morning, and demand reduced until the evening peak hour, but as a result of the new pattern, demand did not decrease significantly after 8:00:00, which resulted in new peak hours.It is anticipated that these changes will have a domino effect on Tehran's transit system as a whole.The system may not be able to handle the changes in behavior, as it was designed to deal with pre-pandemic behavior patterns. There is a need for rescheduling to resolve the problem. Additionally, the government should develop a long-term plan for restoring public transportation demand to its pre-pandemic level.

Keywords

International Journal of Transportation Engineering

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 25 October 2023

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