Using entropy-TOPSIS method to evaluate urban rail transit system operation performance: The China case

Urban rail transit system operation performance evaluation results are important for government, transit operators and passengers. In this paper, we formulate an entropy-Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) Method to evaluate the urban rail transit system's operation performance from the operator's, passenger's and government's perspectives. Firstly, we establish the evaluation indicator system with 8 indicators and a total of 41 sub-indicators, the operational data of the 41 sub-indicators will be used as the input of the approach. Second, we formulate our new approach to obtain the performance evaluation: the Entropy Weight Method (EWM) will be used to calculate the weight of each sub-indicator; the product of the corresponding probability and weight will be used to formulate the performance from operator's, passenger's and government's perspectives; the TOPSIS will be used to calculate the comprehensive evaluation values and rankings of performance for each month. Third, the Chengdu subway with 34 months initial data will be chosen as the case study to test our new approach, the related suggestions to the government, to the passengers as well as the operators and managers will also be given.