Analysis of an idealized system of demand adaptive paired-line hybrid transit

Peng Will Chen, Yu Marco Nie*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

74 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper proposes and analyzes a new transit system that integrates the traditional fixed-route service with a demand-adaptive service. The demand-adaptive service connects passengers from their origin/destination to the fixed-route service in order to improve accessability. The proposed hybrid design is unique in that it operates the demand-adaptive service with a stable headway to cover all stops along a paired fixed-route line. Pairing demand-adaptive vehicles with a fixed-route line simplifies the complexity of on-demand routing, because the vehicles can follow a more predictable path and can be dispatched on intervals coordinated with the fixed-route line. The design of the two services are closely coupled to minimize the total system cost, which incudes both the transit agency's operating cost and the user cost. The optimal design model is formulated as a mixed integer program and solved using a commercially available metaheuristic. Numerical experiments are conducted to compare the demand adaptive paired-line hybrid transit (DAPL-HT) system with two related transit systems that may be considered its special cases: a fixed-route system and a flexible-route system. We show that the DAPL-HT system outperforms the other two systems under a wide range of demand levels and in various scenarios of input parameters. A discrete-event simulation model is also developed and applied to confirm the correctness of the analytical results.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)38-54
Number of pages17
JournalTransportation Research Part B: Methodological
Volume102
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 2017

Funding

This work was funded by National Science Foundation under the award number CMMI-1402911. Constructive comments of three anonymous reviewers are greatly appreciated.

Keywords

  • Demand adaptive service
  • Discrete-event simulation
  • Fixed-route service
  • Hybrid transit system

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Transportation

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