Application of School Bus Routing Problem in GIS to Organize School Buses in Kandy City, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Generally, Kandy city and traffic congestion go hand in hand. This situation becomes worse during school time. The geographical location of the city, the limited number of entrances and the large number of schools located within a small area are contributing to this condition. This study attempts to propose a new model to reduce school time traffic congestion using School Bus Routing Problem (SBRP) method. Network analysis in GIS facilitates the build of this system. SBRP seeks to plan an efficient schedule for school buses to pick up students from a bus stop and drop them to school by satisfying various constraints like; school time window, maximum walking distance and riding time, and the traffic. SBRP selects the nearest bus stops, generates suitable bus routes and visualizes traffic congestion on roads in Kandy city. Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), closest facility, and location-allocation tools identify GIS-based solutions to SBRP. The proposed model selected suitable bus stops to drop students to a school and to generate the fastest bus route for the school buses. Visualizing a 12-hour daytime traffic in Kandy City, all schools are covered by the 56 fastest bus routes. The maximum riding time and distance limits to 59 minutes and 16 km respectively. Historical traffic data identifies 6.00 am to 8.00 am and 12.00 pm to 2.00 pm as the most traffic-congested time in the city. Finally, all problems of SBRP are solved and a systematic method is introduced to transport school students by optimizing the traveling time of students with existing traffic congestion.