Modeling and Complex Characteristics of Urban Subway Co-Opetition Network: A Case Study of Wuhan
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This study compares three schemes of rail lines operation, namely; network, cooperation network, and co-opetition network. In my opinion, the real application of the study is interesting and gives a broad perspective to understand the operational challenges for current public transportation systems with different operators. However, the manuscript needs major editing in its presentation to better convey its potential contribution. The authors need, along with their method interpretation, to redesign the manuscript to give a general framework for others to conduct the same evaluation (especially the practitioners). Also, it should be referred that the transfer criterion is first presented for subway designs in the following studies; - Integrating underground line design with existing public transportation systems to increase transit network connectivity: case study in greater cairo - An optimal metro design for transit networks in existing square cities based on non-demand criterion - Design scheme of multiple-subway lines for minimizing passengers transfers in mega-cities transit networks.
Some minor edits
- The language needs a thorough revision.
- Figure 4 should be presented in a better resolution
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
Thank the professor for your professional comments and guidance. I read the two papers you introduced, the first one, An Optimal Metro Design for Transit Networks in Existing Square Cities Based on Non-Demand Criterion, by planning a new subway network to enhance the existing transportation system, minimize passenger transfer between the origin and destination, thereby improving the connectivity of the overall transportation system, the greatest innovation is to get rid of the traditional regional network design prerequisites, this paper gives me a great inspiration. The second one, Design scheme of multiple-subway lines for minimizing passengers transfers in mega-cities transit networks, a practical design scheme of multiple subway lines is proposed to eliminate the difficulty of dealing with serious combination problems in large-scale networks. Both formula derivation and case analysis are impeccable. Thank you again for your suggestions for the paper. The responses to the issues identified are as follows:
Point 1: The language needs a thorough revision.
Response 1: We apologize for the language use in the original manuscript. We have made language changes at MDPI 's English Language Services and the language presentation was improved with assistance from a native English speaker with appropriate research background.
第 2 点：图 4 应以更好的分辨率呈现
回应2：感谢您的评论，图4 我们已经重绘了。
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This paper explored the co-opetition relationship between urban subway lines. Three directed weighted subway models of competition network, cooperation network and co-opetition network based on the Space R model of complex network were constructed. The reviewer noticed that the paper had been revised, and the work has some theoretical and practical significance. However, this paper still needs some modifications before publication.
1. The author should explain why to study the co-opetition relationship between lines through adding more sufficient references.
2. In conclusions, the shortcomings of this paper and the future research direction should be point out.
Author Response
Thank the professor 's suggestion, in view of your opinion, we reply as follows :
Point 1: The author should explain why to study the co-opetition relationship between lines through adding more sufficient references.
Response 1: We are grateful for the suggestion.
Each line has a limited service area and transportation capacity, and cooperation between lines can meet the travel needs of residents as much as possible. At the same time, when the travel demand of urban residents is certain, there is inevitable competition between routes. Current studies of urban subway lines ignore the cooperative and competitive relationships between lines. Firstly, the overlap between the lines is too high, although to a certain extent to improve the convenience of travel, excessive competition has also caused a waste of resources. Secondly, certain regional lines are sparse, with insufficient cooperation between lines and inconvenient interchanges for passengers. Therefore, the modeling of urban subway lines based on co-opetition and the study of complex characteristics are of great significance in terms of theory and application. Firstly, mastering the mechanism of competition among subway lines can provide a scientific reference basis for reasonable subway line layout and operation management. Secondly, cooperation among subway lines is conducive to passenger interchange, and appropriate competition among lines is conducive to improving the service quality of subway lines. Finally, there are co-opetition relationships among various modes of transportation in urban public transportation, and the study of co-opetition relationships among subway lines can provide reference for the study of co-opetition relationships among these modes of transportation, which is conducive to the systematic planning of various modes of public transportation and promotes the development of integrated urban public transportation. (Added corresponding content in the paper.)
Point 2: In conclusions, the shortcomings of this paper and the future research direction should be point out.
Response 2: We are grateful for the suggestion.
Due to the complexity of passengers' subway travel behavior and the limited data available, this paper still suffers from the following shortcomings. First of all, this paper only analyzes the co-opetition between subway lines from the level of subway line layout, however, the metrics of subway line operation stage also have an impact on the co-opetition between subway lines, so the co-opetition metric model needs to be further optimized. Secondly, the co-opetition between subway lines changes with time, and the evolutionary law of co-opetition between subway lines is not considered. The difference analysis of competition intensity and cooperation intensity between the two lines will be a focus of our future research. The co-opetition intensity between lines is related to the passenger flow size between competing and cooperating station pairs. With other factors unchanged, the greater the passenger flow, the greater the intensity of competition and cooperation between lines. Therefore, introducing passenger flow data for subway lines into the model will make this research more precise. Analyzing the co-opetition between rail transit, conventional buses, and other multi-modal public transportation modes will also be the focus of future research. (Added corresponding content in the paper.)
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
