Transit network design and scheduling: A global review

Abstract

This paper presents a global review of the crucial strategic and tactical steps of transit planning: the design and scheduling of the network. These steps influence directly the quality of service through coverage and directness concerns but also the economic profitability of the system since operational costs are highly dependent on the network structure. We first exhibit the context and the goals of strategic and tactical transit planning. We then establish a terminology proposal in order to name sub-problems and thereby structure the review. Then, we propose a classification of 69 approaches dealing with the design, frequencies setting, timetabling of transit lines and their combinations. We provide a descriptive analysis of each work so as to highlight their main characteristics in the frame of a two-fold classification referencing both the problem tackled and the resolution method used. Finally, we expose recent context evolutions and identify some trends for future research. This paper aims to contribute to unification of the field and constitutes a useful complement to the few existing reviews.

Comparison of operational availability of public city buses by analysis of variance

“…The aim of effective maintenance is to reduce the time of unplanned system breaks (Mean Down Time MDT) and related costs [29]. Based on the literature [3,13,20,24,25] and data collected from MPK in Lublin, it has been assumed that the operational availability will be defined in this study according to the following formula:…”

“…In [3] a general overview of main strategies and technical steps which should be taken when designing an optimum public transportation system. Operational availability as a characteristic of transportation systems is used for analysis of so-called fast reaction systems in random moments of operations (t), for example air force, emergency medical services, fire brigades or public transportation systems [5].…”

“…The operational availability index was mainly used for bus schedule reliability and current monitoring of transportation systems, especially vehicle punctuality [3,4,26] however, it was not often used to control quality management systems and maintenance of a given make of a vehicle.…”

A Comparison between Genetic Algorithms and Simulated Annealing for Minimizing Transfer Waiting Time in Transit Systems

“…The mathematical formulation of network-wide timetable synchronization usually leads to a complex combinatorial optimization problem [1]- [3]. From a mathematical point of view, the problem complexity is mainly because of the need to search for the optimum solution in an extremely huge search space made up by permutation of all possible departure and arrival times of transit vehicles (e.g.…”

A Comparison between Genetic Algorithms and Simulated Annealing for Minimizing Transfer Waiting Time in Transit Systems

“…the start time) is the most common method for the schedule synchronization. This process can be performed through either altering the service frequencies or keeping the pre-determined frequencies of transit lines [1]. In practice, this task is sometimes simplified in the favor of providing coordination among a limited number of lines at a few transfer points.…”