Determining the effects of scheduling on automated automobile guideway utilization

Abstract

This paper develops an analytic approach for measuring the effect of vehicle scheduling and of metering methods required to balance entrance rates among stations on lane capacity utilization of automated automobile guideways. The scheduling process at each entrance is represented by a probabilistic model which generates a system of nonlinear equations. The solution of this system yields the maximum steady state input rates at the entrances to the guideway system. The method developed is applicable to network configurations in which a small number of merges must be scheduled for each vehicle before it enters the guideway. It is demonstrated by application to a corridor guideway serving a major activity center during peak inbound demand, and also it is shown how the approach may be extended to more complex networks.