Determination of Operational Efficiency in Urban Public Transport Lines

The increasing number of urban centers and the increasing number of vehicles caused by

industrialization caused problems such as lack of infrastructure in traffic, environmental

pollution and an increase in energy requirements. This situation led the city administrators

to search for solutions in order to improve the efficiency of public transportation systems

and increase their efficiency. In this study, it is aimed to determine the functional efficiency

of the bus lines used in urban public transportation. For this purpose, the lines are classified

according to their functional activities by using the functional data of the lines. Both

classical cluster analysis and self-organizing mapping (SOM) method were used for

classification. Data from Erzurum main public transport lines were used to implement the

methods. According to the findings of this study, it was determined that the two methods

achieved similar results. As a result, it has been determined that classification of public

transportation lines used in cities according to their functional efficiency will be beneficial

for decision makers to make correct planning. With the right planning in public transport

lines, significant economic and environmental benefits will be obtained.