An integrated MCDM approach to evaluate public transportation systems in Tehran

Public transportation is one of the most important systems in transportation, especially in big and crowded cities. As a result, evaluation of public transportation systems is a strategic decision-making problem for both private and public sections. In this paper, the problem of public transportation passengers in Tehran is addressed and their satisfaction levels are assessed by using passenger satisfaction survey. An integrated MCDM approach is proposed for evaluation of public transportation systems based on Delphi method, group analytic hierarchy process (GAHP) and preference ranking organization method for enrichment of evaluations (PROMETHEE). The proposed model provides more reliable and realistic results and introduces directions for future improvements of public transportation service quality. A sensitivity analysis is applied to investigate the influence of criteria weights on the decision making problem. As a conclusion, the most important public transportation systems in Tehran orderly are: metro, taxi, BRT, bus and van. Therefore, Tehran Municipality and policy makers should encourage and support the previously mentioned systems.