Prediction of Benefits of Special Taxi-Pooling Design for Large Transport Terminals: Case Study of Beijing West Railway Station

Abstract

Taxi-pooling is a newly suggested transport arrangement that may benefit the public in both cost and time. Large transport terminals, such as airports and railway stations, are ideal sites for taxi-pooling because of their large passenger volumes and limited taxi access. However, traditional taxi-pooling methods in these terminals may not be appropriate because of facility and policy restrictions. This study proposes a special taxi-pooling method based on an interactive smartphone application for large transport terminals. The benefits of the proposed method are evaluated through the use of real and simulated data from the Beijing West Railway Station. Three models that consider passengers’ acceptance of and preference for taxi-pooling were built to calculate the reduction in traffic, waiting time, and cost. The results show that the proposed method can effectively improve the travel efficiency and satisfaction of passengers and relieve traffic congestion.