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Designing Metro Network Expansion: Deterministic and Robust Optimization Models

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Abstract

The design and construction of metro networks are typically conducted in stages due to the ongoing growth of urbanization and investment in public transportation systems. Designing new metro lines within an existing metro network is challenging as passenger flow patterns will be significantly updated and change. This study investigates new line designing in an existing metro network, also known as the metro network expansion design problem, and develops two optimization models to maximize the origin-destination (OD) demand capture under a limited budget. The first is a deterministic binary integer linear programming model, while the second is a robust optimization model that considers the demand uncertainty. The paper proposes a section-based modeling strategy to make the issue tractable and consider mode competition with other transport modes to capture the attracted demand by new metro lines. The models are applied to a real-world case in Wuxi, China, to validate their applicability and computational efficiency. The results showed satisfactory metro network expansion patterns with good connections between new lines and existing networks. The deterministic model can identify corridors and sections with higher priorities under tight budget conditions. A sensitivity analysis indicates that passengers’ concerns about travel time and fares are conducive to constructing the metro network. Furthermore, the advantage of the robust solution becomes critical as the demand variation increases. The robust optimization model can provide a more reliable and competitive solution than the deterministic model under large demand variation scenarios.

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Data Availability

The data presented in this study are available on reasonable request from the corresponding author.

Code Availability

The code is available on reasonable request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72122014, 72061127003, 71771149, 71831008, 52088102], the National Key Research and Development Program of China [Grant 2020AAA0107600], and  the Sustainable Urban Future Laboratory of ZJU-UIUC Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Naval Architecture, Ocean & Civil Engineering, and State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Lebing Wang, Jian Gang Jin, Gleb Sibul & Yi Wei

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  1. Lebing Wang
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  2. Jian Gang Jin
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  3. Gleb Sibul
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  4. Yi Wei
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Jian Gang Jin, Lebing Wang; Methodology: Lebing Wang, Jian Gang Jin; Formal analysis and investigation: Lebing Wang, Yi Wei; Writing - original draft preparation: Lebing Wang; Writing - review and editing: Jian Gang Jin, Gleb Sibul; Funding acquisition: Jian Gang Jin; Resources: Jian Gang Jin, Yi Wei; Supervision: Jian Gang Jin.

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Correspondence to Jian Gang Jin.

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Wang, L., Jin, J.G., Sibul, G. et al. Designing Metro Network Expansion: Deterministic and Robust Optimization Models. Netw Spat Econ 23, 317–347 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11067-022-09584-7

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