Data Driven Method for Assessing the Temporal Quality of Intermodal Connections at Suburban Rail Stations

Connections or transfers are an important part of public transport journeys, enabling an efficient network catering for anywhere-to-anywhere journeys at higher service levels than otherwise possible. However, transfers can be an inconvenient part of a passenger’s journey compared to direct trips, especially when connecting between low-frequency routes like commuter rail and suburban bus services. With long headways, a missed or badly timed connections can significantly lengthen one’s commute by up to a service’s headway. Transfer optimization has been considered and applied to varying degrees, but with most emphasis on station design and intra-agency timetable coordination. In contrast, inter-agency timetable coordination is rather rare. Most reliability metrics do not consider how connections are affected by delays on intersecting routes. There is a dearth of academic literature on missed transfers in urban public transport, with most research and statistics on punctuality focusing on single-line reliability rather than on missed connections from delays or where transfers involve long waits or walks. A metric of connection convenience, inspired by the limited academic literature and international best practice in Europe, was developed to evaluate the walking and schedule impedance for transfers between GO Transit rail services and connecting bus services based on the actual walking time between stops. This research is important for informing service integration policies seeking to improve multimodal and inter-agency connections. Agencies can use this metric and its analysis results along with transfer demand data to prioritize services for improved scheduling such as application of timed transfer system (TTS) pulsing and better interchange facilities.