A tool for measuring and visualizing connectivity of transit stop, route and transfer center in a multimodal transportation network

Agencies at the federal, state and local level are aiming to enhance the public transportation system (PTS) as one alternative to alleviate congestion and to cater to the needs of captive riders. To effectively act as a viable alternative transportation mode, the system must be highly efficient. One way to measure efficiency of the PTS is connectivity. In a multimodal transportation system, transit is a key component. Transit connectivity is relatively complex to calculate, as one has to consider fares, schedule, capacity, frequency and other features of the system at large. Thus, assessing transit connectivity requires a systematic approach using many diverse parameters involved in real-world service provision. In this paper, we use a graph theoretic approach to evaluate transit connectivity at various levels of service and for various Sabyasachee Mishra (Corresponding author) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Intermodal Freight Transportation Institute, University of Memphis, 3815 Central Avenue, Memphis, TN 38152, United States, e-mail: [email protected] Timothy F. Welch School of City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology, 245 4th Street NW, Suite 204, Atlanta, GA 30332, United States, e-mail: [email protected] Paul M. Torrens, Center for Geospatial Information Science, Geosimulation Research Laboratory, Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, 1104 LeFrak Hall, College Park, MD 20742, United States. E-mail: [email protected] Cheng Fu Center for Geospatial Information Science, Geosimulation Research Laboratory, Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, 1104 LeFrak Hall, College Park, MD 20742, United States. E-mail: [email protected] Haoji Zhu e-mail: [email protected] Eli Knaap National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, 054 Preinkert Fieldhouse, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States, e-mail: [email protected]