Most studies on public transport design deal only with single level networks. However, in the case of urban public transport networks transport services are not only offered to and from city centres but also to interurban public transport network stations. The fact that there are people who use both types of public transport services would imply that there is a dependency between these networks. An analytical model has been developed to analyse the dependency existing between these two connected networks. In that way an analysis is made of the cases where a single operator is responsible for both networks or of where there are two different operators running each network. In all cases the objectives of profit maximisation and welfare maximisation apply. In two-operator cases each operator is free to fix his own objective. The different scenarios lead to different sensible values for stop spacing, line spacing and frequencies. With interurban public transport companies it would appear to be profitable for them to co-operate with urban public transport companies or to pursue a strategy for adopting the objective of welfare maximisation for urban public transport network design laid down by the local authorities. In the case of welfare maximisation, that is to say, from the authorities' perspective, the impact of having two operators rather than a single operator is virtually nil. (Author/publisher)
Abstract