Urban transit hub location optimization based on attractiveness

In this paper, a two-stage method of transit hub location optimization is proposed. Firstly, alternative hub locations are determined by evaluating the attractiveness of each alternative location. The attractiveness of alternative location can be obtained by three aspects: the accessibility, the aggregation of transit lines and the layout of transit lines. Based on the alternative hub location set, considering the benefit of passenger and operator, a multi-objective model is presented to design transit hub location in a city. Then, a multi-objective genetic algorithm is also developed to solve the model. Finally, the data of Dalian city is used to validate the two-stage method for transit hub location optimization. The results show that the chosen alternative locations are almost cover main land use of Dalian city by using the attractiveness-based model. This indicates that the attractiveness-based model is a feasible and efficient way to determine alternative hub locations. Furthermore, the solution of the transit hub location optimization accords with the actual conditions of Dalian city. This indicates that the proposed multi-objective model and algorithm can consider the quantity, location and cost of transit hubs.