ASSESSMENT OF TRANSIT STOPS SERVICE AREA USING GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM – A CASE STUDY OF PUNJAB UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION

Abstract

University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan being a largest educational and research institution, has remarkably large network of transportation system, covering an area of approximately 1761 square kilometers of Lahore District, to provide an efficient and low cost transit facility to university students, employees and their children. Present research has focused on existing transit stops service area analysis, using Geographical Information System (GIS), of the institute’s transportation system to analyze the efficacy of transit network, user’s access to transit stops and spatial gaps in the transit service. A recent survey of transit stops indicated that on an average 4,076 transit users were being served with 56 buses on 41 routes within study area. Suitable walking time of 8 minute or threshold distance of 624m with walk speed of 78m/ minute has been used as a standard to find the transit stop service area. Results showed that 26.43% of transit users were in a suitable walk access distance of 624 m from transit stops. More than 70% of the transit users in study area had walk time of more than 8 minutes to get to the transit stop. The outcome of present study will help in understanding the present transport network of the university in crucial decision making in future transport planning with respect to passenger demand in study area.