MULTIPLE PERIOD OPTIMIZATION OF BUS TRANSIT SYSTEMS

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1991

Subject Area

mode - bus, mode - mass transit, planning - route design, policy - fares, ridership - elasticity

Keywords

Transit services, Transit, Routing, Radial travel, Public transit, Mass transit, Local transit, Intracity bus transportation, Feeder buses, Fares, Elasticity (Economics), Bus transit, Bus services, Bus routes

Abstract

Analytic models are developed for optimizing bus services with time dependence and elasticity in their demand characteristics. The major results consist of closed form solutions for the route spacings, headways, fares and costs for optimized feeder bus services under various demand conditions. A comparison of the optimization results for the four cases is also presented. When demand and bus operating characteristics are allowed to vary over time, the optimal functions are quite similar to those for steady demand and supply conditions. The optimality of a constant ratio between the headway and route spacing, which is found at all demand densities if demand is steady, is also maintained with a multi-period adjustment factor in cyclical demand cases, either exactly or with a relatively negligible approximation. These models may be used to analyze and optimize fairly complex feeder or radial bus systems whose demand and supply characteristics may vary arbitrarily over time.

Comments

Transportation Research Part B Home Page: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01912615

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