Hindawi

Journal of Advanced Transportation

Volume 2021, Article ID 1103331, 18 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/1103331

Research Article
Research on Accessibility and Equity of Urban Transport Based on
Multisource Big Data

Fei Shi
Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Fei Shi; [email protected]

Received 2 September 2021; Revised 15 October 2021; Accepted 18 October 2021; Published 10 November 2021

Academic Editor: Chansung Kim

Copyright © 2021 Fei Shi. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Daily travel is an important means for everyone to obtain the right to development. With the development of the economy and the
progress of the times, the equalization of public infrastructure has become an important concern. The accessibility and fairness of
transportation have become a hot topic of research in various fields. To promote transport equity and formulate more reasonable
transport planning and policies, this paper takes the Kunshan city as the research object, based on the mobile phone signaling data
and the travel time consumption data from the application programming interface (API) of Gaode Map, using weighted average
accessibility and the Theil index to investigate the accessibility and equity of public transport and car traffic in the Kunshan city.
The study found that the accessibility of public transport is lower than that of car transport in the same research unit, but the equity
of public transport is better than that of car transport, that is, the public transport is fair and the efficiency is neglected. In the same
mode of transportation, equity presents a high four-week low distribution in the central urban area, and the spatial equity
difference is mainly caused by the difference in accessibility levels between cell units. According to the research conclusions, it is
recommended that Kunshan further optimize the spatial layout of public transportation infrastructure and adopt measures such
as bus speed increase to achieve equity and efficiency and improve the competitiveness of public transportation.

1. Introduction proposes a green mobility initiative and advocates the

concept of green and low-carbon mobility, and public
To solve the urban traffic problems and promote the sus- transport is the main direction of future urban transport
tainable development of the city, it is necessary to formulate development. What’s more, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has
reasonable traffic policies to ensure the benign operation of spoken of China’s unswerving commitment to common
the urban traffic system. New York City released the One prosperity. So it is particularly important to ensure the
New York Plan for a Strong and Just City (2014–2040) in accessibility and fairness of public transport. The “Public
2015, which sets out a vision for a fair and just city [1]. The Transport 1.5 Strategy” proposed by Shenzhen in 2015 has
City of London released the London Plan in 2015, which set become a reasonable reference target for public transport
out its vision for 2036 to provide equal life opportunities for construction in China. The total time spent on public
all [2]. In October 2016, the UN-Habitat III Conference took transport, including walking to the bus stop, waiting for the
up sustainable development as its theme, discussing and bus, taking the bus, and walking to the destination, is within
signing the New Urban Agenda. It sets a new global standard 1.5 times that of a car.
for sustainable development in cities around the world, Accessibility in this paper refers to the accessibility of
which refers to providing basic services for all citizens and two different modes of transport: public transport and cars.
ensuring equal opportunities for citizens without discrim- Our prime objective is to evaluate the accessibility of dif-
ination. In 2019, the State Council of the Central Committee ferent transportation modes by using multisource big data to
of the Communist Party of China issued the “Outline for the measure the unfairness of different transportation modes.
Construction of a Strong Transportation State,” which This research has two purposes. First, we aim to promote the
2 Journal of Advanced Transportation

fairness of transportation modes. If we take measures to (i) Buffer-based accessibility of public transport stops
reduce the cost of transportation, people will prefer to travel is based on the supply of public transport services.
by bus rather than by car. The second is to promote regional Buffer zones can be delineated by network analysis
equity by matching the supply and demand through the method [15] or constructed by facility points [16] to
rational distribution of regional traffic resources. Using the measure the service capacity of public transport
Kunshan city as an example, we first simulate its per capita stations. But without considering the process of
travel time consumption and obtain the accessibility of transit mode, the evaluation results are compre-
public transportation and car transportation modes hensive enough.
according to population weighting. Secondly, we select the (ii) The surface accessibility of the public transport
Theil index to deeply analyze the equity differences between based on the supply and demand model considers
different spatial levels and different transportation modes in the supply capacity of development opportunities,
the Kunshan city. The results provide a scientific basis for the demand degree of people’s demand develop-
policymakers, as well as offer references for analyzing ac- ment, the choice of travel mode, and road network,
cessibility by using multisource big data. which can roughly reflect the employment acces-
This paper is organized as follows: Section 1 reviews sibility of urban public transport but does not
related studies on the concept and methods of traffic ac- consider the actual bus travel routes [17].
cessibility, traffic fairness, and Theil index. Section 2 illustrates
the source and processing method of multisource big data. (iii) The accessibility index of public transport network
Section 3 presents the results of the data analysis on acces- based on the network analysis method is con-
sibility, traffic fairness, and Theil index in Kunshan. Section 4 structed by ArcGis to measure the accessibility to
provides some suggestions for Kunshan and concludes with land use destinations by public transport. Con-
the advantages of big data for measuring accessibility. sidering the actual bus travel process, the research
unit is relatively delicate, which can accurately
calculate the actual accessibility of public transport
2. Review travel. However, its effect is poor in areas with small
bus network density [18, 19].
2.1. Concept and Research Perspectives of Traffic Accessibility.
Accessibility has a rich and flexible connotation and is (iv) The accessibility of public transportation based on
broadly defined as the ability of people to use alternative grid method cost using timeline for the analysis of
modes of transport to reach necessary or desired activities space in a little bus accessibility, an accurate cal-
[3]. Accessibility can also be understood as the ease of access culation of two-dimensional space accessibility, but
to more available opportunities and the inherent impedance limited to raster data, unable to simulate the real
used to travel from origin to destination, often measured in public transit, such as dock station [20–22].
terms of the impedance of jobs, distances, or units of time (v) Public transport accessibility based on the inte-
[4]. Due to different research perspectives, scholars of dif- gration of cost raster and network analysis uses the
ferent disciplines have different understandings of the cost raster method to calculate travel costs during
concept of accessibility. Accessibility research can be divided walking and network analysis to calculate travel
into individual-based, utility-based, infrastructure-based, costs during public transport operation. Consid-
and location-based accessibility studies: Individual-based ering the impedance of bus running and walking,
accessibility studies analyze accessibility at the individual the accuracy of public transport accessibility cal-
level, such as the number of activities a person can engage in culation is improved [23, 24].
at a given time. Such measures are based on spatiotemporal
(vi) High-accuracy accessibility of public transport
geography and are used to measure environmental con-
based on a high-performance graphical database
straints on an individual’s freedom of movement; utility-
can accurately simulate the public transport in-
based accessibility studies use economic benefits as a
terchange process by considering the whole process
measure to calculate the economic benefits of travel for each
of travel, a building-to-building study of public
individual; infrastructure-based accessibility studies analyze
transport accessibility. But the practical application
the performance or level of service of transport infra-
of this method is limited by a large amount of data
structure, observe congestion on road networks, or calculate
and the difficulty of access [25, 26].
average travel speeds; and location-based accessibility
studies usually analyze the accessibility of a location at a (vii) The high-precision accessibility of public transport
macro level [5–14]. In this paper, accessibility focuses more based on open map APIs can consider the whole
on the connections and interactions between spaces, that is, process of travel through batch crawling and appli-
location-based spatial accessibility. cation of online map spatiotemporal big data, and the
data used have the characteristics of high timeliness
and high authenticity. Many scholars have done
2.2. Analytical Approach to Traffic Accessibility. Based on the extensive research on route planning tools based on
review of the progress of traffic accessibility research, ac- the Google Maps API (application programming
cessibility analysis methods can be specifically divided into interface). Boisjoly et al. [27] set the departure time to
the following seven types (Table 1): 7 am to obtain the cost of travel during peak hours
Journal of Advanced Transportation 3

Table 1: Summary of public transport accessibility methods.

Research Individuals
Name Research data Advantages Disadvantages
accuracy studied
Areas not covered are by
The actual travel network
Buffer-based Road network data and Range of default unreachable by
is considered
accessibility of public public transport station walking Every bus stop public transport
transport stops data trips No consideration is given to
It is easy to operate
actual travel conditions
It can reasonably reflect
the spatial variability of
Face-to-face Road network data, public
employment supply and The values of the
accessibility of public transport stop and line Traffic
The entire demand, reflecting the accessibility indicators are
transport based on network data, jobs data, analysis
study area temporal and spatial not scaled and have no
supply and demand population data, and zone (TAZ)
variability in the level of specific practical meaning
models traffic analysis areas
service of the transport
network
It fully reflects the
network characteristics of
Public transport Dividing the public transport
Road network data, public
network accessibility the study The entire network and can be used No consideration is given to
transport stop, and line
based on network area into study area to compare the spatial the actual need to travel
network data
analysis grids distribution
characteristics of the
network in different cities
Data on the spatial
characteristics of the It is mainly used to The requirements for raw
study area (mountains, Dividing One point- present the accessibility of data are high; the
Public transport
water bodies, green the study based points and calculate the calculation process is
accessibility based on
spaces, etc.), data on the area into accessibility cost of travel to points and complex and difficult; and
a cost-grid approach
road network, data on raster study the availability of jobs or the accessibility varies with
public transport stops and service levels the given range
lines, and data on jobs
The requirements for raw
Data on the spatial
data are high; the
Public transport characteristics of the A network analysis based
calculation process is
accessibility based on study area (mountains, Dividing on the bus network and a
One point- complex and difficult; it is
an integrated water bodies, green the study walking cost calculation
based not very operational in the
approach to cost spaces, etc.), data on the area into based on a cost-grid
accessibility analysis of the accessibility
raster and network road network, data on raster allows a more complete
of large areas; and the
analysis public transport stops and reach based on one point
accessibility of a given area
lines, and data on jobs
varies with its size
High-precision
Road network data, public
accessibility of public The whole process of It is computationally
transport stop network Building to The entire
transport based on a public transport travel is intensive and demanding in
data, travel schedules, and building study area
high-performance considered terms of data collection
building locations
graphics database
The whole process of
High-accuracy Open map API to obtain
public transport travel is It requires sifting and
accessibility of public codes and start and finish Building to The entire
considered, and travel processing of a large
transport based on latitude and longitude building study area
costs are obtained more amount of data crawled
open map APIs coordinates
accurately

and showed that people living in areas with low public accessibility and carbon emissions, and the accessi-
transport accessibility are mostly low-income people. bility calculation was based on the data collection of
Moreno-Monroy et al. [28] collected the latitude and various open map APIs such as Google Maps, Bing
longitude of schools and students’ residences, entered Maps, and Open Street Maps to compare the cost of
the information into Google Maps, and selected travel, and finally, the different travel modes have
different modes of travel for route planning to obtain been correlated with the carbon emissions of travel
information on travel times, costs, and specific routes [29]. Chen et al. have designed city accessibility
to determine the accessibility of students to school. analysis software based on open map APIs to create
Other scholars have studied the relationship between isochrones through trip point determination [30].
4 Journal of Advanced Transportation

2.3. Transport Accessibility and Transport Equity. model [44, 45] from the assumption that the amount of
Accessibility, as an indicator of the level of urban transport distributed benefits conforms to the entropy distribution
services, is an important medium for measuring travel costs, and studied the fairness of road project construction in-
social linkages, policy evaluation, and regional equilibrium vestment; Chen et al. [46], on the other hand, took into
and is inherently equitable. Many scholars have analyzed account the individual transportation travel in Li et al. [47]
and evaluated accessibility in terms of employment [31], and proposed a graph-based public transport connectivity
distribution of facilities [32], transport modes [33], and (PTC) index to measure the accessibility and equity of in-
transport policies [34] to reflect the equity of urban trans- dividual buildings for evaluating MRT services in Singapore.
port. The accessibility of different transport modes is dif- Accessibility, which to a certain extent reflects equity,
ferent, and minimizing the difference in social benefits can be divided into three categories according to the mode of
between different modes can solve the problem of fairness in analysis: spatial barrier analysis, opportunity accumulation
urban transport; the accessibility of different regions also analysis, and spatial interaction analysis. Spatial barrier
differs, and reasonable transport planning can solve the models evaluate the equity of the transport network itself in
problem of fairness in regional transport resources by dis- terms of differences in the ease of travel in a neighborhood;
tributing transport resources in a balanced manner in the opportunity accumulation models measure equity between
region; the transport modes of different groups are different, individuals in terms of differences in the number of services
and the travel costs are also different. Different groups have or resources that people receive in equilibrium; and spatial
different modes of transport and different costs of travel. By interaction models reflect equity in terms of the relationship
implementing policies to protect the transport rights of the between population size distribution and the spatial dis-
disadvantaged groups, we can ensure that different sectors of tribution of resources [48]. While accessibility values can
the city can enjoy the various services and facilities or travel provide a rough indication of equity to some extent, more
rights fairly and promote social equity. Therefore, accessi- specific equity evaluation indicators need to be further
bility and equity are closely related. explored.
Equity in economics is more concerned with the differ-
ences between income and distribution, with the Gini coef-
2.4. Concept and Classification of Transport Equity.
ficient, the Lorenz curve, and the Theil entropy index all being
Equity refers to the appropriate distribution of the impact
indicators of income disparity in economics. The Lorenz
effects (e.g., benefits and costs) of a policy or measure [35]. In
curve is a linear relationship between the cumulative per-
the field of transportation, Litman analyzed the connotation
centage of the population and the cumulative percentage of
of transportation equity systematically for the first time and
income in a country or region; the Gini coefficient is an
divided transportation equity into two categories: horizontal
indicator of equality of distribution based on the logic of the
equity and vertical equity [36]. Horizontal equity refers to
Lorenz curve and is the quotient of the area between the actual
the concern that everyone enjoys a fair opportunity to pay
income and the absolute equity line in the Lorenz curve and
the cost of travel without considering the variability of
the area below the absolute equality line. Wang Qingyun et al.
human needs and travel ability, that is, absolute equity, the
first introduced the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curve into
core of which is to provide services to the largest number of
the field of transport fairness evaluation [49], after which Wu
users [37]. Lv studied the fairness of transportation based on
Maolin and Cao Kai et al. further conducted an in-depth
the perspective of horizontal equity, arguing that travelers
empirical analysis using the Gini coefficient to study the issue
should have equal accessibility [38]. Vertical equity refers to
of transport fairness in Zibo City [50]. The Theil index is a
paying attention to the income differences and behavioral
measure of income disparity or inequality between individ-
capabilities of different social classes and groups and ad-
uals or regions, originally proposed by Theil based on the
vocates that transport services should be favored to the
information entropy theory, and few relevant articles use the
disadvantaged groups to protect them from bearing exces-
Theil index to study traffic accessibility equity.
sive extra costs, the core of which is to provide services to the
people who need them most [39]. Based on the perspective
of vertical equity, Yang studied the relative transport equity 2.6. Research and Application of the Theil Index. At present,
of different members of society in terms of what they pay and the Theil index is more frequently used in the study of
deserve [40]. In addition, other scholars have studied the regional economic disparities. Niu studied the economic
equity of transport modes from the perspective of compe-
disparities among the three major economic zones in the
tition between different transport modes [41], the equity of
west, central, and southeast of Gansu Province based on the
transport infrastructure layout from a spatial perspective Ter Index and provided a reference for the reasonable in-
[42], and the equity of transport planning and transport dustrial layout of Gansu Province [51]; Shi used the Theil
investment by combining transport big data [43]. index indicator when studying the unevenness of social
security expenditure in less developed regions in the west,
2.5. Measurement of Transport Equity. In the field of finding that the overall disparity is shrinking and intra-
transportation, fairness can be understood as whether the regional differences are the main factor constituting the
benefits of various transportation facilities are equally dis- overall difference and made suggestions for the coordinated
tributed in bringing benefits to different social interest development of social security resource allocation across
groups, so Yang Lang et al. constructed a fairness evaluation regions in Xinjiang [52].
Journal of Advanced Transportation 5

Table 2: Statistical table of study area divisions.

District Number of transport zones Number of base station units
Waterfront old town area 22 427
Eastern vice city 12 452
Yangcheng lake area 7 207
Northern new town 7 215
Central city 15 885
Western vice city 9 370
Southern new town 6 248
Huaqiao business area 7 225
Total 85 3029

In addition to its application in the field of economics, time consumption. The mobile phone signaling data was
the Theil index is also more frequently used in studies on the obtained through the mobile company’s base station record
equity of public service facilities such as health care re- information, and the traffic accessibility data was obtained
sources. In their study of equity in the allocation of health using the Gaode Map open-source data platform.
resources in Chongqing, Lai et al. first used the Gini coef-
ficient to analyze overall inequity and then used the Theil
index to determine that intra-regional differences were the 3.2.1. Acquisition and Processing of Mobile Phone Signaling
main cause of inequity [53]; Liu used the Theil index to Data. The mobile phone signaling data in this study was a
assess the level of equalization of health services in urban series of information records that record the interaction
and rural areas [54]; Sun et al. used the Theil index to study between an anonymous ID and its base station (Table 3).
the equity of health resource allocation in southern, central, When the user was within the service range of the nearest
and northern Jiangsu Province [55]; and Lv used the Theil base station, the mobile phone signal would interact with the
index to study the spatial imbalance of transport infra- base station, and the time and location of the interaction
structure in the New Silk Road Economic Belt [56]. would be recorded by the base station. When the user moved
In the field of transportation, the Theil index is mostly to the service range of another base station, the mobile
used as an indicator to assess the equity of road network phone would disconnect from the previous base station and
design, for example, Bruno Santos combined three indices of interact with the nearest base station. Accordingly, when the
accessibility, Gini coefficient, and Theil index to study the recorded base station information changed, the user was
equity of road network design [57], and Feng et al. [58] used considered to have moved. However, a user’s movement did
the GINI coefficient, Theil index, mean log deviation, relative not represent a valid trip for the user. If one interactive base
mean deviation, coefficient of variation, and Atkinson index station switch was considered as a trip, the user’s real trip
as six representative indicators to construct an accessibility- would be treated as a series of short-distance trips.
based transport equity-type evaluation model, which pro- To specifically discern the user’s movement status, this
vides various options for road network design decisions. study drew on the approach of Demissie et al. [59] to identify
This paper attempts to evaluate urban transport equity using each trip of the user by applying the following processing to
the Theil index of public transport and car accessibility, the mobile phone data:
which is innovative and also has policy and spatial guidance
(i) Sorting the mobile phone data of user x throughout
implications for cities to improve urban transport equity.
the day by time series ux �(ux(1), ux(2), . . ., ux(N)).
3. Materials and Methods (ii) Grouping the time date according to the base station
number and dividing consecutive time series of
3.1. Study Area. This paper takes the Kunshan city as an interactions between the same base stations into the
example. Based on the Kunshan City Master Plan same group, ux(k) � (tx(k), lx(k)). Tx (k) and Lx (k),
(2009–2030), the city area is firstly divided into 8 districts: respectively, represented the interaction time and
the central city, the eastern subcity, the western subcity, the base station location of the KTH group of user X.
northern new city, the southern new city, the Huaqiao (iii) Determining the character of the base station. For
Business Area, Yangcheng Lake area, and the Water Town the k-th group of data, the time of the first inter-
area; then each district is divided according to traffic zones, action with this group of base stations was recorded
for a total of 85 transport zones; finally, the Tyson polygon as FTk, and the time of the last interaction was LTk,
was divided into 3,209 base station units based on the base then the duration of the stay at this place
stations within the traffic region as the smallest unit of study Durationk � LTk – FTk. If Durationk<30 min, then
(Table 2; Figure 1). this base station was a passing point, and vice versa,
this point was a stay.
3.2. Data Acquisition. The main data for the study consisted (iv) Aggregating the travel data of all users processed by
of two parts: residential travel data based on mobile phone the above method to obtain travel statistics based on
signaling data and traffic accessibility data based on travel mobile phone signaling data.
6 Journal of Advanced Transportation

Yangcheng Lake
Area
Northern
New Town

Eastern
Vice City

Central City

Western
Vice City

Huaqiao
Southern Business Area
New Town

Eastern Vice City

Huaqiao Business Area

Waterfront
Old Town Area Southern New Town

Waterfront Old Town Area

Western Vice City

Yangcheng Lake Area

Central City

Northern New Town

Figure 1: Division of the Kunshan study unit.

Table 3: A sample record from mobile phone signaling.

Event data Event type Imsi Lac Cell tower ID Lon Lat
20170107 33 8178 20490 23087493 118.7994 31.02988
20170107 2 8178 20490 23087493 118.7994 31.02988
20170107 18 8178 20490 23087493 118.7994 31.02988
20170107 33 8178 20490 23087493 118.7994 31.02988

The mobile phone signaling data in this study were selected weekday) were collected after data processing, with each travel
from all weekdays in mid-June 2017 (Table 4). A compilation of sample including the complete departure point and destination
1097,873 valid travel samples (the average number of trips on a as well as the corresponding number of trips.
Journal of Advanced Transportation 7

Table 4: Base station location and travel population data based on cellular signaling data.
Field information Description
ID Anonymous user number information
First_Time Start time, indicating the time of the first connection to this base station
Start_Base Start of the base station
Start_LNG Start base station longitude
Start_LAT Start base station latitude
Last_Time End time, that is, the time of the last connection to this base station
End_Base End of the base station
End_LNG End of base station longitude
End_LAT End of base station latitude
Duration Dwell time, equal to the difference between the end time and the start time
Trip_Count Record trip count data for each OD trip

Table 5: Travel time consumption data based on Gaode Map API.

Field information Description
Starting point O number Departure base station number
Longitude of starting point Longitude in Gould coordinates
Starting latitude Latitude in Gould coordinates
Destination D number Destination base station number
Longitude of destination Longitude in Gould coordinates
Latitude of destination Latitude in Gould coordinates
Time spent traveling by public Time spent walking from home, time spent traveling by car, time spent walking by transfer, time spent
transport traveling by car after the transfer, and time spent walking to the destination
Travel time consumption by car Travel time from the departure point to the destination

3.2.2. Acquisition and Results of Traffic Accessibility Data. (i) Aj: notation for the overall reachability of base
The travel time consumption data was obtained using the station unit j to other base station units
Gaode Map API (application programming interface). The (ii) Tjk: notation for the travel time consumption of base
travel times obtained based on this method are more ac- station unit j to k
curate. On the one hand, travel path was real recommended
(iii) Cjk: notation for the number of trips from base
map navigation path; on the other hand, the path selection
station unit j to k
system considering walking time during route selection,
waiting time, transfer impact, and traffic jams, the final (iv) N: number of j base station travel destinations
travel time obtained corresponds to the impact of various
factors already converted into time costs (Table 5). Based
on the processing results of the mobile phone signaling 3.2.3. Calculation Model of Theil Index Based on Accessibility.
data, the morning peak travel time consumption for public The Theil index is a measure of the income gap or in-
transport and car traffic is crawled for each OD, using the equality between individuals or regions. Compared to the
starting and ending base stations of each travel sample as Gini coefficient, the Theil index is well decomposed and
OD points. can be studied in spatial and time series. Spatial series can
The traditional reachability calculation method is to take explain why inequities emerge and where they are spatially
the arithmetic average of all OD travel time consumptions located, and time series can reflect the dynamics of in-
with the same origin as the reachability of O points, that is, equities, with smaller values indicating greater equity. The
the reachability of a particular base station cell. However, specific formula for the decomposition of the Theil index is
this method does not take into account the effect of the as follows:
number of trips. Based on the idea of travel impedance
I
calculated by Batty [60], this study introduced the number of Wi
Ta � 􏽘􏼠Wi log 􏼡, (2)
trips into the base station unit reachability calculation for a i
Gi
weighted average to match the real situation of urban res-
idents’ travel. The specific weighted average accessibility I J Wij
calculation formula is as follows: ⎝􏽘 W log
Tb � 􏽘 Wi ⎛ ⎠,
⎞ (3)
ij
i j�1
Gij
􏽐nj,k�1 Tjk Cjk
Aj � , (1)
􏽐nk�1 Cjk To � Ta + Tb , (4)

where where
8 Journal of Advanced Transportation

Kunshan Bus Network

District Boundary
Accessibility
Average travel time on bus (min)
<30

30-60

60-90
90-120
120-150

Figure 2: Public transport accessibility.

(i) To: notation for the overall difference (vi) Wi: notation for the proportion of the accessibility
(ii) Ta: notation for the difference in accessibility be- of transportation zone i to the total accessibility of
tween transport zones in the city the district
(iii) Tb: notation for the difference in the accessibility of (vii) Gij: notation for the proportion of the travel
base station units within a transport zone population in base station unit j of transportation
(iv) I: notation for the number of transport zones in the zone i to the total travel population of trans-
district portation zone i
(v) Gi: notation for the proportion of the travel (viii) Wij: notation for the proportion of the accessibility
population in transportation zone i to the total of base station unit j of transportation zone i to the
travel population in the district total accessibility of transportation zone i
Journal of Advanced Transportation 9

Kunshan Road Network

District Boundary
Accessibility
Average travel time on car (min)
<0.2
0.2-0.4
0.4-0.6
0.6-0.8
0.8-1.0

Figure 3: Minibus accessibility. The blank base station cell in the figure is the result of processing the mobile phone data after noise
reduction and represents a base station cell with no valid travel data.

4. Results and Discussions transport. In terms of public transport accessibility (Fig-

ure 2), the accessibility of most areas is concentrated be-
4.1. Results of the Accessibility Analysis Based on the Combined tween 30 min and 90 min. The areas with low accessibility are
Model (Equation (1)). The average accessibility of public mainly located in the peripheral areas of the city, mainly
transport in Kunshan is 51 min, and the average accessi- along the eastern side of Yangcheng Lake, the northern part
bility of cars is 15 min. The absolute and relative values of of Dianshan Lake, and the Tianfu National Wetland Park,
the accessibility of public transport and cars are analyzed where the network of public transport lines is sparse, and the
below. coverage of public transport is insufficient compared to the
central city and its surrounding areas.

4.1.1. Public Transport Accessibility Analysis. Public trans-

port accessibility is heavily influenced by public transport 4.1.2. Car Accessibility Analysis. Car accessibility is mainly
infrastructure. So, accessibility is lower in base station units influenced by the road network and is less related to the
and urban peripheral areas with few transport routes, in- distribution and direction of the bus network. In terms of
adequate transport infrastructure, and inconvenient public accessibility by car (Figure 3), the accessibility of most of the
10 Journal of Advanced Transportation

Table 6: Comparison of accessibility values by zone.

Urban district Public transport accessibility (min) Car accessibility (min) Reachability ratio (bus/car)
Waterfront old town area 0.93 0.23 3.98
Eastern vice city 0.86 0.23 3.79
Yangcheng Lake area 1.08 0.30 3.61
Northern new town 0.98 0.25 3.97
Central city 0.77 0.25 3.08
Western vice city 0.92 0.27 3.42
Southern new town 0.86 0.24 3.60
Huaqiao business area 0.88 0.26 3.46
The accessibility of public transport and car is the average of the accessibility of each transport zone internal state unit.

Yangcheng Lake
Area
Northern
New Town

Eastern
Vice City

Central City

Western
Vice City

Huaqiao
Southern Business Area
New Town

District Boundary
Accessibility
bus/car
<1.5
1.5-2.0
Waterfront
Old Town Area
2.0-2.5

2.5-3.0

3.0-3.5

3.5-4.0

4.0-4.5

4.5-5.0

>5.0

Figure 4: Accessibility ratios.

base stations is between 12 min and 24 min, which is gen- northern fringe of Yangcheng Lake area, which are hardly
erally good, while the few base stations with low accessibility covered by urban road network and inconvenient for car
are located in Tianfu National Wetland Park and the travel.
Journal of Advanced Transportation 11

Yangcheng Lake
Area
Northern
New Town

Eastern
Vice City

Central City

Western
Vice City

Huaqiao
Southern Business Area
New Town

Waterfront
Old Town Area

Kunshan Road Network

Kunshan Bus Network

District Boundary

Figure 5: Distribution of road network and bus line network.

Table 7: Public transport and car accessibility in Kunshan Theil Index.

Public transport Cars
Transport region
Intra-area Inter-area Overall Intra-area Inter-area Overall
Waterfront old town area 0.0216 0.009 0.0306 0.0328 0.0119 0.0447
Eastern vice city 0.0038 0.0145 0.0183 0.0034 0.0216 0.025
Yangcheng Lake area 0.0088 0.0274 0.0362 0.011 0.0405 0.0515
Northern new town 0.0071 0.012 0.0191 0.004 0.0219 0.0259
Central city 0.0032 0.0088 0.012 0.0024 0.0158 0.0182
Western vice city 0.0034 0.0136 0.017 0.0067 0.0187 0.0254
Southern new town 0.0022 0.0136 0.0158 0.0003 0.0159 0.0162
Huaqiao business area 0.0128 0.0166 0.0294 0.0168 0.0366 0.0534
The area of the plot indicates the traffic zone.
12 Journal of Advanced Transportation

Kunshan Bus Network Kunshan Road Network

Fairness Fairness

Thiel index of car Thiel index of car

0.0120 0.0162
0.0158 0.0182
0.0170 0.0250
0.0183 0.2540
0.0191 0.2590
0.0294 0.4470
0.0306 0.5150
0.0362 0.5340

(a) (b)
Figure 6: Spatial distribution of the Theil index: (a) public transport and (b) cars.

4.1.3. Analysis of the Relative Values of Accessibility in overall low distribution in the central city and high distri-
Different Ways. Table 6 presents the average travel time bution in the peripheral areas, so the competitive advantage
consumption of the different modes of transport in different of public transport gradually decreases from inside to
spaces. From the same mode of transportation in different outside. The road network and bus network distribution
spaces of the average travel time, the average travel time of cars map (Figure 5) shows that the bus network in the central city
in each district is not much different; accessibility difference is covers almost every road, and the bus network in the western
small, the average travel time of buses has a certain gap; ac- subcity and the southern new town, which are close to the
cessibility from high to low is the central urban area > the city, also has better coverage, so the central city, the western
southern new city > the eastern vice city > Huaqiao Business subcity, and the southern new town have a clear competitive
Area > the western vice city > the ancient town area of Shui advantage in terms of bus network coverage.
Xiang > Yangcheng Lake area. In terms of the average travel In summary, based on the accessibility ratio and the
time of different modes of transport in the same space, the influence of the degree of bus coverage, the competitive
average travel time of public transport in each district is sig- advantage of the bus network is central city > western vice
nificantly higher than the travel time of cars, so the accessibility city > Huaqiao business area > southern new town-
of public transport in each district is lower than the accessibility > Yangcheng Lake area > eastern vice city > northern new
of cars overall. town > ancient Water Town area.
In this paper, the ratio of public transportation to car
traffic accessibility is used to reflect the relative priority of
public transportation in each research unit. The higher the 4.2. Transport Equity Evaluation Based on the Theil Index.
ratio, the more obvious the advantage of public transport in The results of the calculation of the Theil index are shown in
the region in competing with cars. It can also be used to Table 7. The smaller the value of Theil indexes, the smaller the
evaluate the level of construction of public transport cities. difference in the accessibility and the fairer the traffic. Note that
The average ratio of public transport to car accessibility in the Theil index of intra-area represents the difference in the
Kunshan is 3.51, which is far lower than the value of 1.5 accessibility of the internal base station unit of the control unit.
mentioned in Section 1, indicating that there are still great The public transport accessibility index in the waterfront old
deficiencies in the construction of Kunshan public transport town area is 0.0216, which is second only to the commercial city
city, and the competitiveness level of public transport is far of Huaqiao business area, indicating that the accessibility of
lower than that of car transport. public transport between the base station units in the water-
The spatial distribution of the ratio of average travel time front old town is quite different and the development of public
of public transport to car accessibility (Figure 4) shows an transport is not balanced. Note that the Theil index of inter-
Journal of Advanced Transportation 13

Legend

Kunshan Road Network

Kunshan Bus Network
Kunshan Bus Station

Figure 7: Layout of public transport infrastructure.

Table 8: Public transport and car accessibility in Kunshan Theil index contribution (%).
Public transport Cars
Region
Intra-area Inter- area Intra-area Inter- area
Waterfront old town area 70.59 29.41 73.38 26.62
Eastern vice city 20.77 79.23 13.60 86.40
Yangcheng Lake area 24.31 75.69 21.36 78.64
Northern new town 37.17 62.83 15.44 84.56
Central city 26.67 73.33 13.19 86.81
Western vice city 20.00 80.00 26.38 73.62
Southern new town 13.92 86.08 1.85 98.15
Huaqiao business area 43.54 56.46 31.46 68.54
Note. The area of the plot indicates the traffic zone.

area represents the difference of accessibility between the area Theil index of that area is the largest, reaching 0.0274,
control units of the city. For example, although the Theil index which indicates that the unbalanced development of public
of intra-area in Yangcheng Lake area is small, the value of inter- transport is mainly reflected in the level of transport zones.
14 Journal of Advanced Transportation

4.2.1. Characteristics of the Overall Spatial Distribution of the transport is a service that aims to serve more people, so there
Theil Index. In terms of the Theil index for the same mode of will be a greater concern for equity in the siting of bus stops
transport (Table 7), the order of the Theil index values for and the setting of bus route networks.
each district of Kunshan from lowest to highest is central
city < southern new town < western vice city < eastern vice 5. Conclusions
city < northern new town < Huaqiao business area < ancient
Water Town < Yangcheng Lake area. 5.1. Conclusion and Discussion. In this study, the travel time
The order of car Theil index values from lowest to highest is of people in different spaces in the Kunshan city using
southern new town < central city < eastern vice city < western different modes of transport was simulated using Gaode
vice city < northern new town < Water Town < Yangcheng Map path planning, while accessibility was introduced into
Lake < Huaqiao business area, so southern new town has the the calculation of the Theil index, to carry out a spatial
most equitable access to public transport and Huaqiao business variability analysis of transport equity in the Kunshan city.
area has the least equitable access to public transport. The research findings of the study are given below:
In terms of the spatial distribution of the Theil index
(Figure 6), the fairness of the distribution of public transport
and car accessibility tends to decrease spatially from the 5.1.1. Public Transport Accessibility Is Weaker than Car
central city to the peripheral areas, that is, the closer to the Accessibility in Kunshan. The accessibility of public trans-
central city, the smaller the Theil index value, the smaller the port in Kunshan is lower than the accessibility of cars, and
difference in accessibility between the transport zone, and public transport is at a competitive disadvantage compared
the more equitable the transport zone are to each other. to cars. In terms of spatial pattern, the competitive advantage
The layout of public transport infrastructure in Kunshan of public transport is mainly concentrated in the central
(Figure 7) reveals that the central city was developed and urban area and shows a decreasing distribution pattern from
built earlier, with a well-developed road system and good the center to the surrounding areas. This indicates that there
transport infrastructure, and people can easily reach their are obvious spatial differences in the construction of public
destinations by public transport or car. In contrast, only a transport infrastructure, with the central urban areas having
few transport lines are operating away from the central city, better urban public transport resources. In terms of the
and areas close to the transport lines can travel more relative value of travel time, the ratio of public transport
conveniently, while areas away from the roads are less ac- travel time consumption to car travel time consumption
cessible, so there is a clear difference in equity. fluctuates around 3.51, a large difference from the public
The Theil index values for public transport and car transport 1.5 strategy; the service level of public transport
accessibility in the Huaqiao area are high, but in fact, the still has more room for improvement; and public transport
road transport infrastructure in the Huaqiao area is already speed is the future development direction.
relatively well developed, probably since travel in Huaqiao is
so closely linked to Shanghai that it is not possible to de- 5.1.2. The Equity of Public Transport in Kunshan Is Better
termine the destination of travel in the statistics of the in- than That of Car Traffic. Although the accessibility of public
ternal base stations in Kunshan, thus causing errors in the transport in Kunshan is lower than that of car transport, the
calculation of accessibility. equity of public transport is better than that of car traffic. In
terms of the overall Theil Index, the Theil Index for public
4.2.2. Intra- and Inter-Area Characterization of the Theil transport is smaller than that for car traffic, so public
Index. In terms of the contribution of the public transport transport is more equitable than car traffic for commuters. It
and car accessibility Theil indices (Table 8), the contribution is a good indication of the rationality of the current layout of
of the inter-area variation to the total Theil index is greater public transport stations and bus routes in Kunshan, and the
than 60%, except for the Water Town ancient town area, greater emphasis on equity in the planning of the bus
indicating that the variation inaccessibility between trans- network. In the future planning of public transport infra-
port zone is significant. The contribution of the intra-area structure, the efficiency of public transport should be con-
variation to the total Theil index is greater than 70% in the sidered based on fairness to balance equity and efficiency.
Water Town area, which indicates that in the Water Town
area, the variation in the accessibility of the base station units
within the transport zone is significant, mainly due to the 5.1.3. The Accessibility of Public Transport in the Kunshan
sparse bus line network in the Water Town area, and al- City Is Significantly Different among Different Units, and the
though each transport zone has line coverage, the base Spatial Distribution of Transport Facilities Is Uneven.
station bus line network coverage within the unit is insuf- The difference in equity between public transport and car
ficient and uneven. transport in Kunshan is caused by the difference in acces-
The magnitude of the Theil index value between different sibility levels between the transport zones. In terms of the
modes of transport is smaller for public transport than for Theil index for the decomposition of public transport and
cars, indicating that the equity of public transport in car traffic, the inter-area unit contribution of both modes of
Kunshan is higher than that of cars, and the difference in the transport is greater than the intra-area unit contribution
accessibility of public transport trips in each transport zone (except for the Water Town area), so inequity is mainly
is smaller than that of car trips. As a public resource, public found between transport zones. In the case of Water Town,
Journal of Advanced Transportation 15

the inequity is significant within the base units. The division should be established to link the surrounding districts and
of transport zone in Kunshan is mainly based on the avoid traffic congestion caused by cross-district commutes
boundaries of roads or natural waterways. The scale of the through the urban core areas in the surrounding districts. In
transport zone gradually increases from the central city to addition, relying on G2 Expressway and central South Line, a
the periphery. The central city and its peripheral transport bus corridor connecting west subcity, east subcity, urban
zone are comparatively small, so the transport infrastructure core area, and Huaqiao business area will be established to
within each transport zone varies considerably, with sig- run through the east and west. The government should also
nificant inter-area differences. The transport zones in the establish rapid transit corridors relied on S224 Road to link
Water Town area are large, and each district is covered by a the north and south. Finally, a BRT skeleton network will be
network of bus lines, with little difference in transport in- formed that connects the surrounding areas with the core
frastructure between the districts, but the network of lines area, north, south, east, and west. The integration of traffic
within the districts is sparse and unevenly distributed, so the networks will greatly promote the fairness of the whole
differences are apparent. traffic in the region.

(2) Build a Full-Covered Bus Network to Narrow the Acces-

5.2. Recommendations. Based on the findings of the study,
sibility Gap within the Base Station Units. The unfairness
the following measures are proposed from the perspective of
between urban districts mainly comes from the accessibility
planning, construction and management and regulatory
gap between base station units. Therefore, improving the bus
policy.
network in each district to improve the reasonable layout of
the public transportation network and the coverage of bus
5.2.1. Enhancing the Competitiveness of Public Transport to
stops is an effective means to improve the accessibility gap
Promote Equity in Transport Modes
between base station units. As shown in Figure 7, the traffic
network between the urban center area, the northern new
(1) Internalization Policy of External Cost of Cars. Exter-
town, the eastern vice city, and the western vice area has been
nalities are the main reason for the inequity of car travel. A
basically connected, while the resources at the junction of the
large number of car trips lead to road congestion and air
southern new town, the western vice city, the urban center
pollution, which have an unfair impact on people with other
area, and the eastern vice area are sparse. It is because of
modes of transportation. Therefore, the internalization of
drainage group partition. This is because the river group
external cost is the main means to solve a large number of
partition, and the accessibility of both sides of the river can be
cars, and the most common means are regulation and
improved by building bridges and improving the trans-
taxation. Figures 4 and 5 show the spatial distribution of
portation network along the river. At the same time, the
accessibility and fairness in Kunshan. It is necessary for the
surrounding districts need to establish convenient transfers
central city and Huaqiao business area to increase conges-
with BRT transportation facilities. With BRT stations as the
tion charges and sewage charges to increase travel costs to
core, a conventional bus connection system within the region
suppress the demand for car travel.
should be established to improve the bus network and station
layout so as to achieve full coverage of the bus network. At
(2) Bus Priority Development Strategy. As the understanding
present, the urban center area and Huaqiao business area,
of the right of way and its implications for transport grows,
which have relatively perfect transportation infrastructure,
so does the urgent need to build bus lanes in the central city
need to further improve the operation efficiency of the bus
and Huaqiao business area in Kunshan and establish rele-
network and establish a more punctual and reliable bus
vant laws and regulations to ensure priority of public
operation system through intelligent means, such as in-
transportation. A safe and comfortable bus travel envi-
creasing the frequency and shortening the departure time
ronment, convenient transfer facilities, and reasonable fare
during peak hours, to ensure the toughness of bus operation
mechanism can also attract more citizens to choose public
and maximize the efficiency of public transport.
transport, which can effectively promote the substantive
priority of public transport and jointly promote the fair
5.3. Research Highlights and Limitations. Mobile phone data
development of the whole area of transport.
is a new approach to urban travel research that can com-
pensate for the high volume, high cost, and inadequate
5.2.2. Allocating Traffic Resources Rationally to Promote sampling rate of traditional residential survey data. The
Regional Equity innovation of this paper is to use mobile phone signaling
data to group the travelers in the Kunshan city according to
(1) Build a Perfect BRT Network to Promote Fairness between the spatial structure, then simulate and calculate the ac-
City Districts. With the development of the city, there will be cessibility values of public transport and cars including the
a lot of commuting between the urban core area and the traveler population factor, and use the Theil index to study
surrounding areas. The conventional bus cannot meet the the difference of accessibility between different spaces and
rapid and large commuting demand between the large areas, different modes of transport. Mobile phone data can truly
so it is necessary to build the rapid bus corridor to connect reflect the travel behavior of residents. The results of ac-
the urban areas and groups closely. Considering the existing cessibility can be more accurate and appropriate to the actual
road network, the expressway based on the main roads situation. The results can be further used in other research
16 Journal of Advanced Transportation

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