Equilibrium model and algorithm of urban transit assignment based on augmented network

The passenger flow assignment problem for the urban transit network is relatively complicated due to the complexity of the network structure and many factors influencing the passengers’ route and line choices. In the past three decades, many models have been proposed to solve the passenger flow assignment problem. However, the common-line problem remains challenging in transit flow assignment. In this paper, the characteristics of the urban transit network is analysed and a new technique of augmented network is proposed to represent the urban transit system. The purpose is to eliminate the complex common-line problem when modeling transit passenger flow assignment. Through this augmentation technique, the urban transit system can be represented by an augmented network-it then behaves like a simple network and can be used as a generalized network for traffic assignment or network analysis. This paper presents a user equilibrium model for the urban transit assignment problem based on such a technique. A numerical example is also provided to illustrate the approach.