Analysis of Taxi Travels during an Epidemic Period Using System Dynamics Method

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper attempted to propose a framework for factors affecting taxi travel trips and supply in the context of COVID-19. The paper uses system dynamics to develop a model to simulate the taxi travel system, which is used to analyze changes in the supply and demand for taxi travel. Clarifications and revisions are needed to fully appreciate the study. Please see the below comments.

1, in the introduction, “. In recent years, taxi has become more and more popular due to their high convenience, and the connection between taxi travel and the lives of city dwellers has become increasingly close.” Should be at the beginning.

2, it is suggested to give a short summary at the end of “Both contributed to the reduction on the supply side”, which will be beneficial for the reader to get the main deliveries.

3,Line 76-81,  “Interventionary studies involving animals …. impact on the taxi system.” is too long, please streamline the language.

4, In the related work, please add a summary of what has been done in the literature and then a summary of what is still should be studied in the work.

5, Line 172 “Taxi fares” is per kilometer or total trip fare?

6, Line 192-219, “The main causal feedback loops are as follows” Please use a clearer form of expression, such as a table.

7, Line 282 “The first phase shows the rapid change in slope.” Please add the meaning of change in slope.

8, Please streamline the discussion. For example” Under the government's … of vaccine popularity.” Is no need to add.

 

9.  Besides the methods used in the paper, it is also interesting to further apply some choice modeling for the research topic to explore more behavioral interpretation besides only presenting the observed behavior. In this sense, some discussion and literature about potential advanced methods in behavioral science should be added for pointing out future study directions.

Prospect theoretic contributions in understanding traveler behaviour: a review and some comments

Revealing psychological inertia in mode shift behavior and its quantitative influences on commuting trips

Future transportation: Sustainability, complexity and individualization of choices

Cumulative prospect theory coupled with multi-attribute decision making for modeling travel behavior

Author Response

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Reviewer 2 Report

the article is very well written. the topic is affected and adapted to the times we live in due to the pandemic

Author Response

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Reviewer 3 Report

The topic is an important one for practice and science in the current era. The authors have written the paper with a high degree of seriousness, for the most part written in a descriptive and comprehensible manner, shown a high level of (work) commitment, and included various research contributions. For this, I would like to pay my respects to the authors. Nevertheless, I have a few of critical  comments to make:

 

Paragraph 2:

 

• Is this sentence intentionally written or is part of instructions: Interventionary studies involving animals or humans, and other studies that require ethical approval, must list the authority that provided approval and the corresponding ethical approval
• A short literature review of influence on Covid pandemic on either transport demand in general or on taxi travel, if exists, should be useful.
• Short conclusion at the end of chapter 2 should be helpful

 

 

Paragraph 3.

 

• At the beginning of the paragraph, a very brief methodology overview (defined in subchapters) would be useful in order to get a clear picture of the methodlogy. One should see the whole picture and relations of System boundaries and model factors, Causality diagram for taxi trips and Flow diagram of taxi system dynamics at the beginning of this paragraph.
• This sentence is unclear. System development is driven by the factors within the system and the interactions between internal elements, and the system boundary is defined as the minimum level of influence on the achievement of the system's objectives.
• What is “taxi system”- Please elaborate more
• How the factors contained in the system were chosen and selected for the model?
• A brief explanation how the “causal feedback loops” were defined would be helpful,

 

Paragraph 4.

 

• The sub model methodology (Covid related) should be part of Paragraph 3? There is no mention of it prior paragraph 4?

Paragraph 5.

• Mainly contains recommendations. “Real” conclusion, regarding the results of the research should be added as well.

Author Response

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Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank authors' efforts to address my comments, which is a nice job. 

A minor suggestion is that in currently used model, the heterogeneity in people's travel behavior (in Figure 4) and infection rates due to different physical characteristics (in Figure 3) is not considered, which is a limitation, may be a general limitation for system dynamic model as it focuses on aggregated results. 

However, it will be nice if the heterogeneity is modelled and thus other aspects such as disparities in influences of COVID can be investigated. 

Therefore, I recommend to add this point in limitation statement and add relevant literature:

Ortúzar, J.d.D. 2021. Future transportation: Sustainability, complexity and individualization of choices. (heterogeneity in behavior)

Brough, Rebecca, Matthew Freedman, and David C. Phillips. "Understanding socioeconomic disparities in travel behavior during the COVID‐19 pandemic." 

Author Response

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Reviewer 3 Report

Th authors have addressed all remarks. 

Author Response

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