Allocation of Buses on Interdependent Regional Bus Transit Routes

Abstract

In this paper, a two-stage heuristic approach is presented for the allocation of buses to regional transit bus routes. In the first stage, bus frequencies required to handle peak link demand on each route are worked out. Overcrowding of buses to a certain level is considered in the computation of base frequencies. If additional fleet are available, surplus frequencies will be allocated in the second stage minimizing the degree of overcrowding in the network. Passenger discomfort due to overcrowding has been formulated as a nonlinear objective function. Genetic algorithms have been used to solve the problem of allocation of surplus fleet. Overlapping of routes, which is a common feature in many regional transit networks in India, has been considered in this model. Frequencies are set considering a maximum of one transfer. The model has been demonstrated with the help of a case study of a regional transit network in India.