Computer-aided Scheduling of Public Transport

Journal of Scheduling 6: 415418, 2003.

# 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.BOOK REVIEWComputer-aided Scheduling of Public TransportStefan Voss and Joachim R. Daduna (Editors)

Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, Springer Verlag

2001, ISBN: 3-540-42243-9The algorithms developed by the academic world to solve academic problems cannot always be

applied directly to the problems that are present in the real world. These academic algorithms

need to undergo major changes before they can be effectively applied to real world problems.This book does a very good job of closing the gap that exists between academic and public

transport based real world problems. It is accomplished by putting together a collection of

papers that develop models and implement algorithms based on integer programming, linear

programming, network flow, set covering, tabu search, adaptive memory, genetic algorithms,

and agent-based systems. In addition to models and algorithms, papers on case studies and

simulations are also presented.The papers solve real world problems related to vehicle and crew scheduling for the

Rotterdam Public Transport Company in Holland, crew scheduling for an European airline,

and for Dutch Railways in Holland, transit services in Houston, USA, cyclic railway

timetabling problems for Dutch Intercity trains, school bus routing in Burgos, Spain, and a realtime disruption control model for German Railways. The set of papers in this book applies to a

diverse set of audience as it solves problems related to crew scheduling, crew rostering, vehicle

scheduling, driver scheduling, customer satisfaction, school transport, railway timetable,

disruption control of railways, traffic adaptive signal control, determining traffic delays, and

revenue management strategies for railway network providers.The book consists of five parts. The first two parts deal with vehicle and crew scheduling

problems including integrated planning methods. The third part deals with advanced transit

services including integrated transit and demand responsive service. The fourth part is devoted

to monitoring and control for railways as well as air traffic. The last part deals with strategic

aspects such as investments into railway networks and revenue management strategies. Short

synopses of the papers are as follows:A New Model for the Mass Transit Crew Scheduling Problem by M. Banihashemi andA. HaghaniA new formulation of the mass crew scheduling problem is presented as a ``task-based'' multicommodity network flow problem in which the variables are defined in conjunction with the

tasks and the task compatibilities.A Global Method for Crew Planning in Railway Applications by A. Caprara, M. Monaci and P.

TothAn integrated crew pairing and rostering method for real-world instances of the problem is

implemented.416 BOOK REVIEWEfficient Timetabling and Vehicle Scheduling for Public Transport by A. CederThis work attempts to integrate public transport timetables and vehicle scheduling in order to

improve the synchronization of vehicle departure times with passenger demand while

minimizing the fleet size required.Rail Crew Scheduling and Rostering Optimization Algorithms by A. Ernst, H. Jiang,M. Krishnamoorthy, H. Nott, and D. SierAn optimization approach is proposed for an instance of a train crew rostering problem

arising from a practical application.Applying an Integrated Approach to Vehicle and Crew Scheduling in Practice by R. Freling,D. Huisman, and A. P. M. WagelmansAn integrated approach to vehicle and crew scheduling to problems of individual bus lines of

the Rotterdam Public Transport Company is proposed. The authors also investigate the

impact of allowing drivers to change vehicles during a break.A Network Flow Approach to Crew Scheduling Based on an Analogy to an Aircraft/Train

Maintenance Routing Problem by T. MellouliA network flow approach for solving large-scale maintenance routing problems for German

Rail's Intercity trains is extended to the airline crew scheduling problem for an European

airline where the maintenance states are replaced by the crew states.Tabu Search for Driver Scheduling by Y. Shen and R. S. K. KwanA Tabu Search heuristic for driver scheduling problems is investigated.

Experiences with a Flexible Driver Scheduler by S. Fores, L. Proll, and A. WrenA user manipulated Integer-Linear Programming tool for the optimization components of the

TRACS II for driver scheduling is presented.Scheduling Train Crews: A Case Study for the Dutch Railways by R. Freling, R. M. Lentink,

and M. A. OdijkA heuristic branch-and-price algorithm is implemented to solve large scale crew scheduling

problems, such as train guard scheduling problem, for the Dutch Railways.Evaluating a DSS for Operational Planning in Public Transport Systems: Ten Years of

Experience with the GIST System by T. G. Dias, J. V. Ferreira, and J. F. E. CunhaThe success rate of GIST Decision Support System, developed by a consortium of two

university R&D groups and five public transport companies, is evaluated.Crew Scheduling for Netherlands Railways ``Destination: Customer'' by L. Kroon andM. FischettiA set covering model with additional constraints is implemented for scheduling train drivers

and conductors for the Dutch Railway operator NS Reizigers.Selecting and Implementing a Computer-aided Scheduling System for a Large Bus Company byM. MeiltonOutlines a procedure undertaken by FirstGroup to select a company-wide computer-aided

scheduling system for the UK bus operations.Days-off Scheduling in Public Transport Companies by D. Pedrosa and M. ConstantinoAn Integer Programming model is proposed for which the solutions consist of a set of cyclic

schedules and workload assignments based on strict labor union rules.Modeling Cost and Passenger Level of Service for Integrated Transit Service by M. Hickman

and K. BlumeAn integrated scheduling method that explicitly incorporates both transit agency cost and

passenger level of service is used on a case study of transit services in Houston, Texas.BOOK REVIEW 417Adaptive Memory Programming for a Class of Demand Responsive Transit Systems byF. Malucelli, M. Nonato, T. G. Crainic, and F. GuertinA Demand Adaptive Systems (DAS) is presented that integrates traditional bus transportation and on-demand service.A Cycle-based Optimization Model for the Cyclic Railway Timetabling Problem by L. Peeters

and L. KroonPresents an optimization model for minimizing passenger's travel time, maximizing the

robustness of the timetable, and minimizing the number of trains needed, for the Dutch

intercity trains.Minmax Vehicle Routing Problems: Application to School Transport in the Province of Burgos

by C. R. D. Serna and J. P. BonrostroSchool bus routing application to minimize the duration of the longest route, with a fixed

maximum number of vehicles, for a secondary education school in the province of Burgos,

Spain.An Approach Towards the Integration of Bus Priority, Traffic Adaptive Signal Control, and

Bus Information/Scheduling Systems by P. Mirchandani, A. Knyazyan, L. Head, and W. WuThe integration of adaptive traffic signal control and bus priority based on optimizationbased priority is addressed.An Optimal Integrated Real-time Disruption Control Model for Rail Transit Systems by S. Shen

and N. H. M. WilsonAn integrated real-time disruption control model, formulated as a mixed integer program, is

discussed.Design of Customer-oriented Dispatching Support for Railways by L. Suhl, C. Biederbick andN. KliewerThe design and simulation of a dispatching support systems for railway passenger traffic from

the viewpoint of passenger orientation using data from German Rail.Determining Traffic Delays through Simulation by P. Zhu and E. SchniederA simulative approach to determine train delays due to stochastic disturbances in railway

traffic, such as a technical failure, is presented.Optimization Approach to Support the Grouping and Scheduling of Air Traffic Control Sectors

by A. P. Barbosa-Povoa, P. L. de Matos, and L. RochaIntroduces an integer programming model for the grouping and scheduling air traffic control

sectors and proposes a generic framework to represent the intersections between the air traffic

sectors and flight demands.New Revenue Management Strategies for Railway Network Providers by I. Braun, K. A. Klinge,M. Schroeder, and E. SchniederPresents a strategy for a future European railway slot management system for slot-marketing,

allowing reduced processing times for the assignment of slots as well as providing demandoriented pricing strategies.Impacts of Deregulation on Planning Processes and Information Management Design in Public

Transit by J. R. DadunaDiscusses a solution concept due to the deregulation of public transit advanced by the

European Union in the last few years for an organizational, informational, and operational

structure to deal and monitor the required changes.418 BOOK REVIEWCostbenefit-analysis of Investments into Railway Networks with Periodically Timed Schedules

by M. Kolonko and O. Engelhardt-FunkeA prototype system on a costbenefit-curve that shows the effect of investments on the

quality of the network, measured by the waiting time of passengers, using data from a regional

line in Germany.As the book is based on the International Conference on Computer-aided Scheduling of

Public Transport 2000, the list of papers that were presented at the conference but not included

in the book is also preserved. This is another useful resource regarding the current research that

is being conducted in the area of public transportation.The reviewer would highly recommend this book for both theorists and practitioners in the

field of public transportation as it goes a long way to reduce the gap between algorithms for

academic and real world problems and offers real life solutions to real life problems.Sam R. Thangiah

Slippery Rock University, USA.