Reaching low-density urban areas with the network-inspired transportation system

Traditional transit is often unable to effectively service areas of low ridership and low population density. To alleviate this problem, a method of combining traditional transit with demand-responsive transportation is proposed. This system, known as the network-inspired transportation system (NITS), uses demand-responsive transportation to handle the first and last miles of each passenger´s trip. The effectiveness of the NITS is tested in simulations run in a fictional gridded street city as well as the city of Atlanta, GA. Simulation results show that the NITS provides a higher quality of service than transit in low density urban areas where traditional transit is not effective.