OPTIMAL ROUTE DESIGN FOR SHARED PARA TRANSIT SERVICE IN PATNA, INDIA

In most small cities in India, para transits form the basic mode of shared transport that people use for their daily commuting. These para transits include autos (motorized three wheelers) and taxis or cabs. These small transit systems usually carry about 5 to 6 passengers and ply on fixed short routes ranging from 3 to 8 kms. With increase in population and travel demand, there has been a huge increase in the number of para transit vehicles, particularly autos in recent years and optimal scheduling of para transit is essential. The current work suggests a dynamic framework for optimal scheduling of para-transit operations considering the randomness in arrival of passengers. It assumes a stochastic queuing model for scheduling of para transit operations such that the waiting times are minimized and the cost of operations is realized with an optimal level of profit.