Urban rapid transit network capacity expansion

Abstract

This paper examines a multi-period capacity expansion problem for rapid transit network design. The capacity expansion is realized through the location of train alignments and stations in an urban traffic context by selecting the time periods. The model maximizes the public transportation demand using a limited budget and designing lines for each period. The location problem incorporates the user decisions about mode and route. The network capacity expansion is a long-term planning problem because the network is built over several periods, in which the data (demand, resource price, etc.) are changing like the real problem changes. This complex problem cannot be solved by branch and bound, and for this reason, a heuristic approach has been defined in order to solve it. Both methods have been experimented in test networks.