Public Transport Problems Research Articles

Economical Effects of Using Subway in the Reduction of Fuel Consumption

Abstract .Transportations one of the important indexes of air pollution in cities has always occurred in the form of a big Unavoidable problem. Lack of comprehensive approach and enough (Sufficient) attention toward transportation and traffic issues have unsparing social, economical and environmental costs and damages in the country which the most important of them are: high fuel consumption and growth of the fatal and injury crashes, air pollution and environmental damages. Among the public transportation networks, railway public transit is known as the healthiest, fastest, safest and generally the most efficient transportation network which is proved the undeniable role in solving economic, social and environmental problems caused by public transport and traffic problems. Considering the political and economic centrality of Tehran as capital of Islamic Republic of Iran with an increasing population of over 10 million people, and the construction of satellite cities, and conducting population to these cities, it is important to construct several connecting subway lines for these satellite cities. This paper focuses on economic problems via comparing underground subway as public vehicle with motor vehicle.

Using the Genetic Algorithm for Optimization of the Integrated Urban Transportation Systems

Improving the public transportation problems should rely on integrated multidimensional transport policies which can soften the demand of infrastructure investment. However, it would be very difficult to fully consider the multi-dimensional transport polices in planning framework because there would be too many possible policy combinations to be evaluated. So, this study attempts to develop an analytic framework for evaluating urban integrated transport policies comprehensively, including strategies of investment, pricing, management and regulation. To deal with the difficulty of too many policy combinations, genetic algorithms will be used to search for the optimal strategy combination for integrated transport strategy. Finally, the relationship between quantified objectives, policy combinations, and assessment performances would be analyzed using the proposed model.

Innovative Strategic Management: The Case of Mumbai Suburban Railway System

Business organizations today have to survive and grow in a turbulent and volatile business environment. Continuous metamorphosis in technology, competition, inconsistent government policies, group dynamics of employees and militant unions, rational customers and their forums have been constantly reminding them to be more vigilant. Generation and rendering of services is often more vulnerable as services are perishable and dynamic. The strategic management of any service sector must be innovative and sustainable. Efficient urban transport systems are critical elements of the sustainable development of urban areas. This paper presents the innovative strategic management system of Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) in addressing the Mumbai suburban public transport problems. An incredible 88 per cent of all travel in Mumbai is by bus and rail; this illustrates the popularity and necessity of having an effective and efficient public transport system, particularly the railways. The paper outlines a case study of US $2.5 billion expansion and improvement of the Suburban Railway Network, as a part of the multi-modal Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). Increase in suburban trains in Mumbai has not kept pace with the passenger demand and therefore loading in the existing suburban trains have increased and the travelling conditions in the trains have become unbearable. The paper gives an insight into the process of building social and political consensus while taking into consideration the aspirations of people for conducive and comfortable commutation. The diverse but integrated objectives that were achieved holistically, is indeed through innovative strategic management that led MRVC to attain customer satisfaction, energy conservations, socioeconomic benefits, environmental upgradation through afforestation, rain water harvesting, and noise reduction. MRVC is doing rain water harvesting, mangrove plantation, tree plantation and transplantation to compensate for cutting of tress at project sites. A glaring example of an infrastructure project that aptly envisaged ecological balance and environmental and social upgradation of slum dwellers. Innovative improvement in commuters' amenities including ventilation system, GPS-based passenger information system, pneumatic suspension for comfortable riding, etc., have enhanced customer satisfaction that is required for a long-term business growth.

Line planning on tree networks with applications to the Quito Trolebús system

We discuss an optimization model for the line planning problem in public transport in order to minimize operation costs while guaranteeing a certain level of quality of service, in terms of available transport capacity. We analyze the computational complexity of this problem for tree network topologies as well as several categories of line operations that are important for the Quito Trolebús system. In practice, these instances can be solved quite well, and significant optimization potentials can be demonstrated.

Waiting Time Optimization with IP-Solver

This paper deals with two different public transport problems, in which the same phenomenon of waiting time occurs. In the past, both the problems were solved in the same way, which included rearrangement of the original problems to simpler max-min problems. These simplified approaches were used due to that time state of optimization software. In connection with building new computational laboratories equipped with new optimization environment, we want to come back to the more precise original quadratic models of the problems and explore new possibilities in obtaining the optimal solution of the original problems. We have done an analysis of those quadratic programming problems, worked out a linearized model and completed the computational study to compare the max-min and quadratic approaches.

Solving procurement problems in public transport: Examining multi-principal roles in relation to effective control mechanisms

Despite the EU’s increasing role in regulating public transport procurement, few studies have considered this aspect when analysing procurement problems of public transport. This paper examines how the institutional relationships between different actors, including international governmental bodies, in public transport effects the possibility of exerting control over a county public transport authority (PTA) in a multi-principal setting. The analysis is carried out using empirical material from an infringement process including a Swedish PTA and the EU. The conclusions have clear policy implications for the procedural order when exerting control over the PTA in cases of procurement problems. It is for example shown, that the implementation process would be much more efficient if the regulations allowed the EU to impose sanctions directly towards the local authorities without having to involve the national government when the procurement laws are violated.

Optimization models for the single delay management problem in public transportation

Passengers travelling in public transportation networks often have to use different lines to cover the trip from their origin to the desired destination. As a consequence, the reliability of connections between vehicles is a key issue for the attractiveness of the intermodal transportation network and it is strongly affected by some unpredictable events like breakdowns or vehicle delays. In such cases, a decision is required to determine if the connected vehicles should wait for the delayed ones or keep their schedule. The delay management problem (DMP) consists in defining the wait/depart policy which minimizes the total delay on the network. In this work, we present two equivalent mixed integer linear programming models for the DMP with a single initial delay, able to reduce the number of variables with respect to the formulations proposed by the literature. The two models are solved by a branch and cut procedure and by a constraint generation approach respectively, and preliminary computational results are presented.

MARKET STRUCTURE OF PASSENGER VANS IN BANGKOK

Like many mega cities in developing countries, commuters in Bangkok face problems of insufficient public transport under control of the government. Thus, passenger vans play important roles in providing alternative to serve these commuters. Conventional bus operators considered that the passenger vans were competitors to take the passengers. The government claimed that this competition caused lower revenue for the bus operators. Therefore, the government enforced regulations of maximum price and entry for the passengers vans. But market structure between the passenger vans and conventional buses is unclear. For evaluating the effect of these regulations, the study aimed to identify the market structure of public transport for commuters between the passenger vans and conventional buses using the northern corridor of Bangkok as a case study area. Oligopoly markets with implications of product differentiation and collusion were discovered from results of case study surveys. Deregulation of entry and price was recommended.

Solving Bus Terminal Location Problem Using Genetic Algorithm

Bus networks design is an important problem in public transportation. The main step to this design, is determining the number of required terminals and their locations. This is an especial type of facility location problem, a large scale combinatorial optimization problem that requires a long time to be solved. The genetic algorithm (GA) is a search and optimization technique which works based on evolutionary principle of natural chromosomes. Specifically, the evolution of chromosomes due to the action of crossover, mutation and natural selection of chromosomes based on Darwin's survival-of-the-fittest principle, are all artificially simulated to constitute a robust search and optimization procedure. In this paper, we first state the problem as a mixed integer programming (MIP) problem. Then we design a new crossover and mutation for bus terminal location problem (BTLP). We tested the different parameters of genetic algorithm (for a sample problem) and obtained the optimal parameters for solving BTLP with numerical try and error.

To Wait or Not to Wait? The Bicriteria Delay Management Problem in Public Transportation

Assume that a train reaches a station with delay. At the station there is a bus ready to depart. The question of whether the bus should wait for the delayed train or depart on time is called the delay management problem. Different single objective functions for this problem have been introduced and analyzed. In this paper, we present a bicriteria model for the delay management problem, taking into account both the delay of the vehicles and the number of passengers who miss a connection. Our model does not depend on detailed data about the passengers and hence can be easily implemented in practice. To analyze the problem, we present an integer programming formulation and a graph-theoretic approach that is based on discrete time/cost trade-off project networks. Using results of project planning, we develop an efficient solution method. We tested our procedure using real-world data. The results show the applicability of the approach.

Driver Scheduling Problem Modelling

The Drivers Scheduling Problem (DSP) consists of selecting a set of duties for vehicle drivers, for example buses, trains, plane or boat drivers or pilots, for the transportation of passengers or goods. This is a complex problem because it involves several constraints related to labour and company rules and can also present different evaluation criteria and objectives. Being able to develop an adequate model for this problem that can represent the real problem as close as possible is an important research area.The main objective of this research work is to present new mathematical models to the DSP problem that represent all the complexity of the drivers scheduling problem, and also demonstrate that the solutions of these models can be easily implemented in real situations. This issue has been recognized by several authors and as important problem in Public Transportation. The most well-known and general formulation for the DSP is a Set Partition/Set Covering Model (SPP/SCP). However, to a large extend these models simplify some of the specific business aspects and issues of real problems. This makes it difficult to use these models as automatic planning systems because the schedules obtained must be modified manually to be implemented in real situations. Based on extensive passenger transportation experience in bus companies in Portugal, we propose new alternative models to formulate the DSP problem. These models are also based on Set Partitioning/Covering Models; however, they take into account the bus operator issues and the perspective opinions and environment of the user.We follow the steps of the Operations Research Methodology which consist of: Identify the Problem; Understand the System; Formulate a Mathematical Model; Verify the Model; Select the Best Alternative; Present the Results of the Analysis and Implement and Evaluate. All the processes are done with close participation and involvement of the final users from different transportation companies. The planner's opinion and main criticisms are used to improve the proposed model in a continuous enrichment process. The final objective is to have a model that can be incorporated into an information system to be used as an automatic tool to produce driver schedules. Therefore, the criteria for evaluating the models is the capacity to generate real and useful schedules that can be implemented without many manual adjustments or modifications. We have considered the following as measures of the quality of the model: simplicity, solution quality and applicability. We tested the alternative models with a set of real data obtained from several different transportation companies and analyzed the optimal schedules obtained with respect to the applicability of the solution to the real situation. To do this, the schedules were analyzed by the planners to determine their quality and applicability. The main result of this work is the proposition of new mathematical models for the DSP that better represent the realities of the passenger transportation operators and lead to better schedules that can be implemented directly in real situations.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN THE SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT POLICY

This paper deals with the problems of public transport and gives an overview of public transport policy in the European Union (EU) and in the post-socialist bloc, as well as tendencies in the pursuit of sustainable mobility. No doubt that urban public transport today is forced to confront more stringent demands. This involves the mounting diversification of journey needs and the increase of demands from the general public. Therefore, this will affect the quality of transport and force the public transport entities to pursue the satisfaction of customer needs. Public transport will also have to concern itself with environmental conservation and sustainable development.

Gradient Estimation for a Class of Systems with Bulk Services: A Problem in Public Transportation

This paper deals with a system where batch arrivals wait in a station until a server (a train) is available, at which moment it services all customers in waiting. This is an example of a bulk server, which has many applications in public transportation, telecommunications, computer resource allocation, and multiple access telecommuncation networks, among others. We consider a subway model and focus on a metro line serving a particular metro station. Denote the planned inter-departure time of this line by x. The metro station is served by several other lines and passengers change trains at the station. Traveling times of trains are assumed to be given by fixed times and an additional stochastic noise. We perform a sensitivity analysis of the total delay of passengers waiting for the x line with respect to x. We establish a smoothed perturbation analysis (SPA), a measure-valued differentiation (MVD), and a score function (SF) estimator. Numerical experiments are performed to compare the ensuing estimators. It turns out that the SPA and MVD estimators are intrinsically different and the model presented in this paper may serve as a counter-example to the widespread belief that SPA and MVD yield similar estimators.

TRACS II: a hybrid IP/heuristic driver scheduling system for public transport

We discuss the driver scheduling problem in public transport and describe a combined integer linear programming/heuristic approach to its solution. The approach has been applied successfully in many operational and planning scenarios. Recent developments in the algorithms used allow the solution of very large bus and rail problems.

Determining the weights of criteria in the ELECTRE type methods with a revised Simos' procedure

In a decision aiding context, knowing the preferences of the Decision Maker (DM) and determining weights of criteria are very hard questions. Several methods can be used to give an appropriate value to the weights of criteria. J. Simos proposed a very simple procedure, using a set of cards, allowing to determine indirectly numerical values for weights. The purpose of this paper is first to explain why the above method needs to be revised, and second, the revised version we propose. This new version takes into account a new kind of information from the DM and changes certain computing rules of the former method. A software has been implemented based on the revised Simos' procedure whose main features are presented in this paper. The new method has been applied to different real-life cases (public transportation problems, water resources problems, environment problems, etc); it proved to be successful.

Willingness to pay for the services of commercial motorcycles in Akure, Nigeria

Abstract Most planning solutions aimed at redressing public transport problems in Nigeria continue to fail, because they are ad hoc and do not take into consideration the willingness to pay for improved transport facilities and services. This paper examines some factors that affect the willingness of citizens to pay for the commercial motorcycle (locally called okada) services in Akure. The okada is a new mode regarded to have contributed to improved transport in the city. The paper presents some determinants and estimates of the willingness to pay for this transport mode. Empirical analysis shows that the incident of armed robbery by operators and the education of citizens are the significant factors affecting citizen's willingness to pay. Other important factors include the method of determination of trip fares, variations in weather conditions and stability of trip fares. Some policy implications of the findings are discussed.

Managing a Pool of Self Service Cars

This paper addresses the public transportation problem using electric cars. The system under consideration is a self-service system. The management of this new form of transportation means includes two issues: the redistribution of the cars among the stations and the recharge problem. In this paper, we describe how to manage these two issues.

Open queueing network model of Shanghai public transportation problem

In this paper, the open queueing network model is proposed for solving the problem of public transportation in cities. The vertices of the networks (i.e., the bus stops) are determined by means of the fuzzy clustering method. The arcs (i.e., the paths of the public transportation) can be set up by using the shortest path model in the time sense or the 0–1 integer programming method. Applying the statistics method, we can calculate the parameters (such as the passenger flow’s distribution, passenger flow’s transition probability, mean waiting time for the bus etc.) of the public transportation network. In this paper, we suggest to divide the network into two or three stages to implement the public transportation system in the form of “frog jumping” fast transfer and “permeation” fast dispersion. Combining the computer simulation and the evaluation of the achievement and effect of public transportation system, we modify the model so as to solve the public transportation problem better.

SOLVING TRAFFIC PROBLEMS IN CITY CENTRES: NUREMBERG- A CASE STUDY

In many cities a radical change in transport policy needs a determined local government. It appears that traffic engineering is not yet advanced enough to be able to deal with the new environmental urban transport demands. This paper describes the public transport problems which have been faced by the city of Nuremberg and explains how these problems have been addressed. The author comments that the example of Nuremberg is symptomatic for many German towns and cities. There are certainly a large number of other cities which have not been as radical as Nuremberg in their policies against car access to the city centre and the present trend is towards adopting a more moderate approach. For Nuremberg the effects on trade, social activity, public transport use (the main underground station in the city centre has 50,000 passengrs daily) and air quality have all been positive and were worth the long struggle.

Transport in the largest industrial region in Western Europe: the Rhine‐Ruhr region

Abstract The historical evolution of urban transport in the largest, most densely populated industrial area of Western Europe is shown with special regard to public transport and environmental problems. Facts and figures about the travel patterns are given as well as a description of the transport infrastructure of this region. Finally, governmental objectives and plans for future transport‐related development are stated.