Efficient public transportation in

Timișoara with GIS network analysis

EPTT-GIS NA

Daniel-Constantin Gurban
Enrolment number 116

University of Timisoara
06.12.2016
Contents

SUMMARY...................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................4

METHODS....................................................................................................................5

1.1 Theoretical approach...........................................................................................5

1.2 Transportation Database Development..................................................................5
1.3 Network Analysis via GIS based Network Analyst....................................................6
1.4 Implementation of the Web GIS Application...........................................................6
1.5 Writing the MSc Thesis........................................................................................6
1.6 Gantt Chart and Pert Diagram..............................................................................7

EXPECTED RESULTS....................................................................................................9

DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................10

References..................................................................................................................11

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SUMMARY

In recent years, the road traffic is becoming more intense, therefore the inhabitants
of Timișoara are turning increasingly towards public transport. This has determined
the local authorities to expand the transportation network. In this regard, it was
also introduced a boat trail to improve transportation possibilities. However,
residents of Timișoara fail to always find the optimal route, in terms of distance and
travel time, between two locations. Thus, the purpose of this project is to achieve
an application that can be accessed by anyone and who gives the optimal route
using public transportation. In order to do this, using ArcGIS Network Analyst,
connections between different locations will be created and realized the optimal
routes between any two points on the Timisoara’s map. The expected result
consists of a user-friendly map that requires the introduction of user’s location and
desired destination, and gives the optimal combination of means of public
transport, for arriving at destination (including the boat if is the case). The impact
of this project is expected to be major for the residents of Timișoara, because it will
make more efficient the movement of people and will ease the congestion on the
roads.

Keywords: Traffic congestion, optimal route, Web GIS application, network analysis

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INTRODUCTION

My MSc thesis aims to present a solution for decongesting the road traffic in
Timisoara. Traffic congestion is a result of the large number of private vehicles
circulation on the roads. The orientation towards public transportation could be an
important direction in traffic congestion management. A road network analysis
together with a solution proposal is intended to be done in order to establish the
possibilities to improve the public transportation in Timisoara.

At this moment, Timisoara is one of the most developed cities in Romania. This
was released in the last 200 years, due to the growth of economic opportunities
and a prolific market. Regarding the population, Timisoara is the third city in the
country, with a number of 333 613 inhabitants. With the increasing number of
population, it appeared a predictable problem, the traffic congestion. Thus, it often
happens that a person spends more than one hour in traffic on the way to work or
to shopping centres. Therefore, an efficient public transportation application is
mandatory to be developed.

This study is based on Geographical Information System (GIS) for analysing,

visualizing, generating and interpreting data. For the network analysis required in
this project, is used the Network Analyst tool which is a GIS extension. With the aid
of this tool, the best route between two points within a network, the closest facility
and the service area are determined.

As far as I know, this is the first study using GIS Network Analysis for
transportation in Timisoara. This type of research study can be found, for example
in the case of the Indian city, Chandigarh (Kumar & Kumar, 2016). Moreover, there
are several research papers where GIS network analysis is used: medical system
(Gibson, Xiangzheng, Boe-Gibson, Rozelle, & Huang, 2011), tourism administration
(Tang & Thang, 2015) and even for service provision (Comber, Brunsdon, Hardy, &
Radburn, 2009).

My MSc thesis study has three main objectives: the development of a database
for the network transportation in Timisoara; a rigorous network analysis regarding
the best route between two points, the closest facility and the service area; and
finally, a Web GIS application entitled “In Time Timisoara (ITT)”, based on the

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network analysis which will allow to any person to access the best public transportation
variant in terms of time consuming and distance.

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METHODS

The strategy of developing the study for my MSc thesis contains the following
methods: a theoretical approach of the subject, the development of a
transportation database, the network analysis based on GIS Network Analyst, the
implementation of the Web GIS application and the writing of the thesis, together
with the organizational part represented in the GANTT chart and Pert Diagram.

1 THEORETICAL APPROACH

The study of my MSc thesis is focused on transportation network and especially

the public transportation in Timisoara. Hence, I will present some theoretical
notions about transportation network.

Nowadays networks are the base of the development of today infrastructure and
society. Roads, railways, cables, have all network structure. Therefore, networks
are used for the people movement, all types of material transports, and even for
communication. This is the reason why network analysis is a paramount aspect in
studying this domain.

A transportation network may be formally represented as a set of links and a set

of nodes. A link connects two nodes and a node connects two or more links (Bell &
Iida, 1997). The nodes represent points in space (starting point and destination, for
example), and the links correspond to transport infrastructure (roads or railway).

In my case the nodes will be represented by starting points and destinations,

and the links will be the segments of road between those points. With this
considerations, the network analysis will regard the locations points and paths
between them.

2 TRANSPORTATION DATABASE DEVELOPMENT

In order to perform the network analysis, first is needed to have a database. In

the case of my study I used a map of Timisoara from (www.openstreetmap.org,
n.d.) and using ArcGis a shape-file was generated. Due to the fact that the data
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must be accurate I made a rigorous correction on the streets from the map. The
city road shape file is then used to generate the database. For processing the data
there were required further steps. A vectorization of the means of transport,
including the boat trail and stations was done and then a dataset was generated for
the network analysis. The idea of following these steps is partially inspired by the
research paper (Kumar & Kumar, 2016).

3 NETWORK ANALYSIS VIA GIS BASED NETWORK ANALYST

Network Analyst is an ArcGis extension that performs network analysis in

ArcMap. The following types of analysis can be performed: optimal route, service
areas, closest facility. Network Analyst tool uses Dijkstra's algorithm for finding
shortest paths (www.arcgis.com, n.d.).

ArcGIS Network Analyst provides network-based spatial analysis tools for

solving complex routing problems. It uses a configurable transportation network
data model (www.esri.com, n.d.).

The dataset generated before is now used by the Network Analyst for analysing
first of all, the best route between two points and the variants of the means of
public transportation. Also, there were analysed the service areas for each point on
the map and closest facility.

4 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WEB GIS APPLICATION

The implementation of this application is scheduled to commence on February

2017, and the result will be obtained at the most, at the end of April 2017. This
application will have the form of a user-friendly map which will be able to output
the best route and the optimal means of transportation for any two locations in
Timisoara.

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5 WRITING THE MSC THESIS

Writing the MSc thesis is a paramount part of my work due to the fact that this
will be in the end evaluated. Therefore, I will commence writing my MSc thesis on
April, 2017 and it should be terminated two months later. Nevertheless, after
writing the MSc thesis, a rigorous correction will be done for avoiding all types or
errors. On May, 2017 I will complete the presentation of my thesis and on July,
2017 I will sustain my thesis in front of the evaluation commission.

6 GANTT CHART AND PERT DIAGRAM

The GANTT chart (Figure 1: The GANTT chart of my MSc thesis) was created for
keeping my work organized and also having a permanent overview of my progress.
My MSc thesis is divided into three Work Packages (WP): WP1 “Theoretical
approach of the subject”, WP2 “Development of the project” and WP3 “Master
Thesis”. Each work package is divided into work tasks (WT). An important
information in the GANTT chart is the duration for packages in general and for each
work task in particular. The WP1 duration is from the beginning of October 2016
until the end of the February 2017 and it contains two work tasks. WT1.1
“Consulting bibliography” lasts three months and the last month is common with
WT1.2 “Search for additional information”. Also, on November 2016, a general
meeting takes place. In this meeting is discussed the validity of the bibliography
and the need of additional information.

The main part of my MSc thesis work is represented by the WP2. This part has a
duration of seven months, starting from November 2016 and it has five work tasks:
WT2.1 “Develop the Database”, WT2.2 “Improve the Database”, WT2.3 “Network
Analysis”, WT2.4 “Develop the user-friendly map”, WT2.5 “Improve the
Application”. On December 2016, a second general meeting is scheduled in order to
establish the accuracy of the development of the database and possible
improvement. At the end of January 2017 is programmed the first deliverable work,
meaning an accurate and ready to use transportation database. Then a network
analysis is performed and at the end of March 2017 should be provided a milestone
result. The WP2 is finished at the end of May 2017.

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The WP3 “Master Thesis”, has a duration of three months and is represented by the
effective writing of the thesis (WT3.1) and ends with the final presentation (WT3.2)

Figure 1: The GANTT chart of my MSc thesis

The Pert Diagram (Figure 2: The PERT Diagram of my MSc Thesis) contains,
mainly the same information as GANTT chart with the mention that there is not any
time estimation. In addition, Pert Diagram contains relations between work tasks. It
can be noticed in this diagram that consulting bibliography is the base of creating
and then improving the database, while searching for additional information
influence the previous two work tasks and also the network analysis. All this work
tasks then lead to the development of the user-friendly map which will be written in
the master thesis.

Moreover, an improvement of the application will be performed. This

improvement, together with the documentation about the state of the art and the
theoretical approach will we part of the thesis. In the end, a presentation of the

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master thesis will be created and then presented in front of the evaluation
commission.

Figure 2: The PERT Diagram of my MSc Thesis

EXPECTED RESULTS

The results intended to obtain at the end of this MSc thesis are the following: an
accurate database for the network transportation in Timisoara and a use-friendly
map with the optimal routes for movement within the city with public
transportation.

Under the assumption that this results will be achieved, a definitely

improvement will be established in the public transportation in Timisoara. On the
one hand, the database will contain accurate information on the road network and
transportation possibilities. Then, using GIS Network Analyst the optimal route,

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with respect to the time and distance, will be analysed together with the service
areas. Finally, a complete functional application will be provided.

DISCUSSION

The result of my MSc thesis study will definitely have a major improvement in
the public transportation in Timisoara. The Web GIS application will be the first
solution, not only for the persons that are already using public transportation but
also for those who used personal cars for travelling to workplace every day. Having
a correct information about the optimal route to a destination, people will be
assured that will always arrive on time, and all the delays caused by the traffic
congestions will be erased.

This project is naturally exposed to some risks. Table 1. Risk Management

Strategy Matrix presents the risks that are possible to occur during the elaboration
of the MSc thesis study. This risks are evaluated in terms of potential adverse
impact, level, risk management strategy and responsibility. As it can be noticed,
there are two risks of high level. The first one refers to the restrictive bibliography
on this domain of study, while the other one refers to the delay in the writing of the
thesis. The former can produce a delay in processing and the later can even
transform the results of the study into an immediate failure. All the risks have a
strategy which can be essential at some point.

Table 1. Risk Management Strategy Matrix

Potential Risk Risky

LF
Risks adverse level management Responsibility
REF.
impact (H/M/L) strategy
There is not Looking for
1.1 enough Delays in H support The accessibility of
bibliography processing sources
Try to find
Additional something Limited data in
1.2 data is hard Delays M similar this domain
to find
2 Develop High L Rethinking Complexity of the
project adverse timeframe project

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 takes too impact
long
Delaying the Thesis not Present the
3.1 writing of complete H thesis in the Master Student
the thesis in time next session

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REFERENCES

Bell M, Iida Y (1997) Transportation Network Analysis. Chichester : Wiley.

Comber A, Brunsdon C, Hardy J, Radburn R (2009) Using a GIS--Based Network

Analysis and Optimization Routines to Evaluate Service Provision: A case
study of the UK Post Office. Appl. Spatial Analysis, 47-64.

Gibson J, Xiangzheng, D, Boe-Gibson G, Rozelle S, Huang J (2011) Which

household are most distant from health centres in rural China? Evidence from
a GIS network analysis. GeoJournal, 245-255.

Kumar P, Kumar D (2016) Network Analysis using GIS Techniques: A Case of

Chandigarth City. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 409-
411.

Tang S, Thang H (2015). The Network Analysis in Rural Tourism Land UseBased on
GIS. Advances Material Research Vols, 1313-1316.

www.arcgis.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/latest/extensions/network-
analyst/algorithms-used-by-network-analyst.htm

www.esri.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/extensions/networkanalyst

www.openstreetmap.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/45.7536/21.2344

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