Understanding Metro-to-Bus Transfers in Nanjing, China Using Smart Card Data

Understanding metro-to-bus transfers are important in Chinese cities because metro systems in China have not formed extensive networks and metro riders rely heavily on bus services as a feeder and distributor to rail transit services. Given the wide application of automatic fare collection systems using smart card in Chinese transit systems, smart card data with boarding and alighting information has become a new source of data to understand transfer behaviors. This paper takes Nanjing, China as a case study and examines the possibility of using smart card data to understand specifically metro-to-bus transfer behaviors. Smart card data of a weekday and a weekend is used, with a total of over 6.5 million transaction records. The data analysis focused on identifying metro-to-bus transfers and how metro-to-bus transfer behavior (including transfer duration and time of the day) differ by card type, city region and weekend/weekday status. Results of the analysis show similarities and differences in metro-to-bus transfer behaviors across card holder groups, location of metro stations and between weekdays and weekend days. The transfer duration of the students and adults is shorter on weekdays than weekend days. Besides, the transfer duration in the suburbs is longer than urban areas and exurbs. Most metro-to-bus transfers on weekdays concentrate upon peak hours at 8:00 and 17:00. The reasons of these phenomena are discussed in the corresponding chapters. Limitations of the study and future directions are further discussed.