Dynamic Bus Scheduling Based on Real-Time Demand and Travel Time

Dynamic scheduling of buses, which adapts to the current passenger demand and traffic conditions, will help in ensuring an efficient service to the commuters and maximizing the profit for operators. A fixed schedule with a constant headway, which is currently used widely, may lead to inadequate number of buses during peak periods and under-utilization of the system in off-peak periods. To overcome this, the present study proposes a demand and travel time responsive model to maximize the benefit of the operator by preparing an optimal schedule that can adapt to the variations in passenger demands and traffic conditions, subjected to minimizing the waiting time of the passengers, capacity constraints of the buses to achieve the maximum financial benefit as well as social satisfaction. For this, the study analyses the data received from real-time tracking devices that were fitted in a selected bus route in Chennai. Results showed that the waiting times were reduced up to 10 min per passenger and the percentage utilization of bus capacity was increased by 8% on an average across a day.