Information entropy evaluation model of bus-line reliability considering the combination of bus stops and bus travel time

Evaluating the reliability of a bus line can provide useful information on the service performance of the city’s bus transit system and the need for improvements. This paper presents a reliability evaluation model of a bus line based on information entropy. The model integrates the weighted bus-stop index and the variation index of bus travel time. To better determine the weights of the bus stop, six indices were established based on three characteristics: passenger flow, bus-stop properties, and the environment. The proposed model was applied to typical bus lines in Fuzhou, People’s Republic of China. The results show that most bus-stop reliabilities at the peak period were smaller than those at the off-peak period. In addition, for either peak or off-peak period, the reliability shows a slight upward trend following a gradual decline after the first stop, generally reflecting the influence of passenger flow, environment, and location factors.