Integrated weight-based multi-criteria evaluation on transfer in large transport terminals: A case study of the Beijing South Railway Station

Stringent evaluation on passenger transfer capacity is one of the fundamental requirements to validate designs and ensure efficient operations at large transport terminals as effective transfer service is always the prime concern of the operators. This study focuses on the transport terminals at major cities where a number of transport services connecting local and inter-city traffic convert. It is rather arduous to evaluate the overall performance of passenger transfer when the performance is attributed by both quantifiable factors and subjective perceptions which are on different scales and bounds of evaluation. In this paper, multi-criteria evaluation on transfer alternatives is developed by formulation of criteria systems and integration of performance factors. Multilevel grey evaluation (MGE) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) are employed to devise the overall evaluation results and produce ranking for alternatives. The merits of the proposed methodology are illustrated through a case study on the Beijing South Railway Station in China. This study is particularly useful for the designers and operators to assess transfer performance and level of service in large transport terminals amid the increasing demands of the modern transportation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.