Empirical research of intercity high-speed rail passengers' travel behavior based on fuzzy clustering model

High-speed rail (HSR) is a rising industry in China and its development will be accelerated in the future. An empirical research is conducted to analyze passengers ' travel behavior and selection preference factors before and after the completion of Beijing-Tianjin intercity HSR using fuzzy clustering model. The results indicate that through improving the transportation capacity between cities, HSR can create and release multiple travel activity needs such as for business, visiting relatives and friends, tourism activities, etc. It can also help strengthen the economic and social intercity interactions. It is also clarified that "speed" is the symbolic competitive advantage of HSR. The improvement for HSR's security and service should be based on reasonable speed. The empirical results clearly prove that HSR is a win-win transportation industry that is beneficial for individual, city and the nation. It will get satisfactory service evaluation through improving travel conditions and is worth further promotion.