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Abstract: The innovative on-demand bus system is developed and the result of field tests shows that the system is valid for different city types. On-demand is a demand-responsive transit service where the vehicles transport users after they reserve their seats, and the vehicle does not move if there is no reservation. On-demand bus is an existing technology and it runs all over the world, but the high running cost is a problem. The aim of the developed system is practical introduction of the system from cost viewpoint. Local government can start the service in low cost with cloud computing technology. In order to build up the cloud computing system, schedule calculation system and the communication device in the car are required. In order to validate the developed system, simulation and field test are held. The result of computer simulation shows that the developed calculation algorithm works well as designed. The result of field test shows that the on-demand bus service in three different type cities are provided through the Internet with cloud computing technology and it is evaluated to enable new public transportation system.
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1 Introduction
This paper presents the details of the innovative on-demand bus system and the evaluation of the developed service by field tests.
On-demand bus is a demand responsive transit service where the vehicles transport users after they reserve their seats, and the vehicle do not move if there is no reservation. On-demand bus is an existing technology and it runs all over the world, but the high running cost is a problem. The high running cost comes from two reasons, the computer system and the cost for hiring operators. Specifically, the local government has to purchase a set of large server system in order to start and keep the service, and they have to employ operators who have the following three tasks: to input the demand through the computer in behalf of the customers, to calculate and make the route, and to relay the new route to the bus.
The 'innovative' on-demand bus can resolve these problems by cloud computing technology. The on-demand bus service is provided through the Internet, so local government officers do not have to purchase and maintain the large-scale...