Evaluating Social and Spatial Equity in Public Transport: A Case Study

The present study aims to evaluate public transport access distribution based on a framework of vertical equity principles. In this method, traffic analysis zones (TAZs) are analyzed by comparing the estimated transit demand with the existing geographical distribution of the network's benefits (e.g., accessibility and mobility). The framework deploys the concept of connectivity power to measure the distribution of a transit system's supply. On the other hand, demand is measured by an exhaustive index, the weighted average of four social indicators, namely the number of low-income people, the population, the households without vehicles, and the disabled in the TAZs. These weights can differ from city to city depending on culture, politics, social behavior, and costs of effective parameters such as fuel, parking, and tickets in that particular city. The framework was applied to the comprehensive transit network of Tehran, Iran. Finally, diagonal and radical lines linking the city's southwest to its northeast are proposed.

Automated summary

The present study aims to evaluate the distribution of public transport access based on principles of vertical equity. Traffic analysis zones (TAZs) are analyzed to compare transit demand with the existing distribution of network benefits. The framework utilizes the concept of connectivity power to measure the supply distribution of a transit system, while demand is measured using a weighted average of four social indicators. The study applied this framework to Tehran's comprehensive transit network and proposed diagonal and radial lines to improve transportation accessibility.