Connectivity, Reliability and Approachability in Public Transport: Some Indicators for Improving Sustainability

first_pageDownload PDFsettingsOrder Article Reprints This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon. Open AccessArticle Connectivity, Reliability and Approachability in Public Transport: Some Indicators for Improving Sustainability † by Neila Bhouri 1,*ORCID,Tiziana Campisi 2ORCID,Maurice Aron 3ORCID andS. M. Hassan Mahdavi 4ORCID 1 Laboratory Cosys/Grettia, University Gustave Eiffel, 14-20 Boulevard Newton, Cité Descartes, Champs sur Marne, 77447 Marne-la-Vallée, France 2 Transportation Engineering (CEAR-03/B-Trasporti), Department of Engineering & Architecture, Kore University of Enna, 94100 Enna, Italy 3 Independent Researcher, 48 rue Florian, 92160 Antony, France 4 Institut VEDECOM, 23bis, allée des Marronniers, 78000 Versailles, France * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. † Presented at EWGT23, 25th Euro Working Group on Transportation Meeting, Santander, Spain, 6–9 September 2023; p. 3. ⟨hal-04273985⟩. Sustainability 2025, 17(2), 645; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17020645 Submission received: 6 November 2024 / Revised: 8 January 2025 / Accepted: 13 January 2025 / Published: 15 January 2025 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Development of Resilient, Reliable and Sustainable Transportation Networks) Downloadkeyboard_arrow_down Versions Notes Abstract The reliability of public transport connectivity is influenced by factors such as route design, frequency, availability and infrastructure. Using a shortest path algorithm, we identify up to “k” space–time paths for each origin–destination pair (OD), considering schedules and maximum tolerable waiting times. We propose four reliability indicators and an approachability indicator to assess transport supply. These indicators are calculated at path, OD and network levels using two sets of equations. This framework enables fleet managers to evaluate and compare strategies to improve connectivity reliability and equity, such as increasing route frequency, optimizing lengths or expanding the network. Enhancing connectivity reliability encourages modal shifts to public transport, while improving approachability minimizes resource usage, contributing to sustainability. An application to the bus network of a city in Brittany, France, demonstrates the practical use of these indicators in evaluating and optimizing transport strategies.