Temporal Performance Analysis of Bus Transportation Using Link Streams

Performance analysis of transport systems usually requires transfer of passengers between trains, cars, or buses, among others. This paper proposes a methodology for modeling and analysis of bus transportation using link streams. Link streams are particular cases of stream graphs whose cliques provide information about available time intervals for connecting buses. These cliques are obtained by algorithms of the literature with good scalability. They are used to quantify performance indicators as transfer time, bunching, congestion, and number of transferred passengers. The results are obtained for real-world data of a bus terminal in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. They reveal important issues regarding transfer delays and available capacity for transport. The proposed performance analysis can be used to support urban planners on planning and improving transport operation.