Timetable Optimization in Urban Corridors
In this article, you'll learn how is it possible to increase public transport services efficiency by providing passenger experience in strategic network areas, without compromising business sustainability for public transport companies.
MAIOR's timetable optimization algorithm embedded in the MAIOR Transit Scheduling Suite supports trip-building optimization in urban corridors, depending on the needs and requirements of the transit company and passengers.
What are Urban Corridors?
Urban corridors are public transport network areas, in which different lines may share parts of their routes, stops, or be linked with contiguous or nearby routes.
In these cases, it is possible to plan the service trips having an overall view of headways or frequencies, passenger demand, available vehicles, or provided origin/destination to provide a better experience and reduce operational costs for the company (in terms of the number of vehicles and dwell times).
This is where the MAIOR Transit Scheduling Suite speeds up and eases the management through a dedicated algorithm to optimize timetables, achieving more efficient connections and allowing multi-line trip planning.
2 Optimization Goals
The dedicated timetable optimization algorithm of the MAIOR Transit Scheduling Suite has two well-defined goals with regard to trip building in urban corridors:
- The first goal: Optimize headways in urban corridors by creating trips with regular frequency between target stops (time points) to ensure that the service offer improves passengers' experience with better service regularity.
- The second goal: To synchronize the frequency of lines in order to have better mobility on corridors in which the lines have common routes.
MAIOR's Timetable Optimization Algorithm
The timetable optimization algorithm within the MAIOR Transit Scheduling Suite finds the right balance between different needs and stakeholders: on one hand, you have the user who wants the most regular service possible, and on the other, you have the service provider company, which wants to minimize costs by reducing the number of vehicles and dwell times.
The MAIOR trip-building algorithm automatically creates trips balancing these two needs.
Users can easily find the best timetable solution, by defining per time band:
- The target headway
- The number of available vehicles
- The number of desired trips
- The number of passengers to be transported
The algorithm then finds the best timetable solution for the urban corridor, creating trips respecting all constraints, and satisfying the needs of both passengers and public transport company.