Route Design Problem of Customized Buses: Mixed Integer Programming Model and Case Study

Abstract

In recent years, the customized bus (CB) has been introduced and popularized in China to improve the attraction and service level of public transportation. A key point of the CB system, the route design problem, is always formulated as a vehicle routing problem with pickup and delivery (VRPPD). However, VRPPD cannot sufficiently describe the in-vehicle passengers of multiple vehicles involved. In this paper, a mixed integer programming model is developed to formulate a multivehicle routing problem, with suggestions for bus stop locations and routes. Meanwhile, the model can determine passenger-to-vehicle assignment based on a series of constraints, like operation standard and number of stations. In solving the problem, a numerical example is used to compare a genetic algorithm (GA) and branch-and-cut algorithm. The comparison results illustrate that GA is more efficient with lower complexity. Finally, in order to apply and evaluate the proposed model, a real-world case study using smartcard data is conducted to compare the approach with the current CB route design method in Beijing.