Sustainable consumption, production and infrastructure construction for operating and planning intercity passenger transport systems

Two bi-level programming models—an operational model and a planning model—for the intercity passenger transport systems under sustainability contexts are proposed in this study. In the upper-level models, the government (regulator) aims to provide the transport infrastructures and to regulate the fares (tolls) to achieve some sustainability objectives, indexed by energy consumption, air pollution, traffic safety, and travel time. In the lower-level models, the transport carriers aim to determine the service frequencies to maximize their profits; whereas the users aim to choose available transport modes to maximize their utilities. The rationales for the proposed models are based on the behavioral conjectures in game theory. A case of 400-km intercity passenger transport (e.g., Taipei–Kaohsiung in the western corridor of Taiwan) is exemplified with sensitivity analysis. The results indicate that rail transport is the priority mode toward overall sustainability for intercity passenger transport. Based on the results, some policy implications are addressed.