Two-phase optimization approach to transit hub location – the case of Dalian

•To determine the candidate nodes of transit hubs based on passenger attraction.•To optimize hub distribution by maximizing served population per construction cost.•Data of Dalian is used for testing the validity of the approach to hub location.

This paper proposes an approach to deal with the hub location problem in urban public transit network design, which includes two phases: to determine the candidate nodes and to optimize the distribution of transit hubs. Firstly, an indicator defined as passenger attraction is introduced to describe the attraction level of a transit node to passengers. A selection model based on passenger attraction is built to choose several candidate nodes from all the transit nodes. Secondly, a mathematical model, aiming at maximizing served populations per construction cost, is proposed to optimize multi-hub location based on the selected candidate nodes. At last, the data of Dalian city, China is used for testing the validity of the proposed approach. The results indicate that the candidate node selection model according to passenger attraction can provide an appropriate searching space for hub location optimization and the selected candidate nodes can almost cover all the passenger flow collection and distribution centers in the urban area of Dalian. Furthermore, the optimized hub location in the case study is consistent with the practice situation in Dalian. This indicates that the proposed two-phase optimization approach is a competitive method for transit hub location.