Abstract
In this literature review, we systematically review studies on public transit control with a specific focus on at-stop measures. In our synthesis of the relevant literature, we consider three perspectives: (1) the mathematical models of the proposed methodologies; (2) their complexity; (3) their applicability in real-time operations and their advantages and disadvantages considering their practical implications. The reviewed control methods include holding, dynamic dispatching, and stop-skipping. Control methods, that have attracted more attention in recent years due to the advancements in automation and data availability, aim at alleviating the negative effects of service variability because of external disruptions. Following the synthesis of the literature, we propose a research agenda pertaining to the combination of control measures, passenger-oriented decision making, coordinated network control, deployment of electric buses and disturbance management.
Highlights
Decisions regarding the operations of transit services are made at different planning stages
At the operational stage, which is the focus of this study, dynamic control approaches such as holding, rescheduling or stop-skipping are frequently deployed to react to disturbances and disruptions in realtime
Dynamic control is needed in transit operations to alleviate the adverse effects of bunching, overcrowding and schedule sliding
Summary
Decisions regarding the operations of transit services are made at different planning stages. Bus and tram (or, more generally, at-grade urban rail transit) services offer a relatively high degree of freedom in their operations (e.g., they are not dominated by safety considerations enforced through the blocking and signaling traffic regime characteristics of heavy rail operations) Exploiting this higher degree of freedom, operational control measures can be used to mitigate bunching, schedule sliding and overcrowding that occur due to the spatio-temporal variation of travel times and passenger demand (Abkowitz and Tozzi, 1987; Clotfelter, 1993; Strathman et al, 1999; Hans et al, 2015a; Hans et al, 2015b).
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