An integrated approach to local public transport services and efficency in company management. A model application

The design of public transport systems is a complex activity which develops on different levels. The process is made of different components, as the design of service levels and definition of service parameters, as planning bus routes, planning bus stops, setting frequency and time-tables. The process is based largely on customer satisfaction; therefore the design of the service will be demand-oriented. The service design has an effect on the cost of the service and therefore it is a constraint. Experience shows that it is not conceivable to design a system which is budget – restrictions free, therefore it is not possible to fulfil passenger requirements without keeping in account the limits set by service production costs, that is offering a service which is conceived independently from company efficiency, or effectiveness. In standard approaches, all the service data (i.e. timetable) is a given invariable data for the problem solving. The proposed approach intends to solve the problem of vehicle scheduling by considering the service data, defined in the first step, as a variable of the system; therefore, during the process of optimization of the vehicle scheduling, it is possible to modify the time table given as input, in function of the optimization of the company’s business efficiency. The approach presented in this paper is based on the consideration that the constraints set in the service planning phases, if considered rigid, are a strong limitation to the achievement of efficiency in the company business process. Therefore in the phase of vehicle and crew scheduling, the constraints on the service data are relaxed, allowing small modifications to the time table.