TY - GEN A1 - Beckenbach, Isabel A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Knoben, Loes A1 - Kretz, David A1 - Uetz, Marc T1 - The S-Bahn Challenge in Berlin N2 - The S-Bahn Challenge in Berlin is a challenge in which one has to travel the entire S-Bahn network of Berlin in the shortest possible time. We explain how the problem can be modeled and solved mathematically. Furthermore, we report on our record attempt on January 10, 2015. T3 - ZIB-Report - 15-13 Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-53792 UR - https://gor.uni-paderborn.de/index.php?id=362 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Sagnol, Guillaume A1 - Barner, Christoph A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Grima, Mickaël A1 - Seeling, Matthes A1 - Spies, Claudia A1 - Wernecke, Klaus T1 - Robust Allocation of Operating Rooms: a Cutting Plane Approach to handle Lognormal Case Durations N2 - The problem of allocating operating rooms (OR) to surgical cases is a challenging task, involving both combinatorial aspects and uncertainty handling. We formulate this problem as a parallel machines scheduling problem, in which job durations follow a lognormal distribution, and a fixed assignment of jobs to machines must be computed. We propose a cutting-plane approach to solve the robust counterpart of this optimization problem. To this end, we develop an algorithm based on fixed-point iterations that identifies worst-case scenarios and generates cut inequalities. The main result of this article uses Hilbert's projective geometry to prove the convergence of this procedure under mild conditions. We also propose two exact solution methods for a similar problem, but with a polyhedral uncertainty set, for which only approximation approaches were known. Our model can be extended to balance the load over several planning periods in a rolling horizon. We present extensive numerical experiments for instances based on real data from a major hospital in Berlin. In particular, we find that: (i) our approach performs well compared to a previous model that ignored the distribution of case durations; (ii) compared to an alternative stochastic programming approach, robust optimization yields solutions that are more robust against uncertainty, at a small price in terms of average cost; (iii) the \emph{longest expected processing time first} (LEPT) heuristic performs well and efficiently protects against extreme scenarios, but only if a good prediction model for the durations is available. Finally, we draw a number of managerial implications from these observations. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-18 KW - robust optimization KW - lognormal duration KW - Hilbert's projective metric Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-58502 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Sagnol, Guillaume A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Grima, Mickaël A1 - Seeling, Matthes A1 - Spies, Claudia T1 - Robust Allocation of Operating Rooms with Lognormal case Durations N2 - The problem of allocating operating rooms (OR) to surgical cases is a challenging task, involving both combinatorial aspects and uncertainty handling. In this article, we formulate this problem as a job shop scheduling problem, in which the job durations follow a lognormal distribution. We propose to use a cutting-plane approach to solve a robust version of this optimization problem. To this end, we develop an algorithm based on fixed-point iterations to solve the subproblems that identify worst-case scenarios and generate cut inequalities. The procedure is illustrated with numerical experiments based on real data from a major hospital in Berlin. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-16 KW - robust optimization KW - lognormal duration KW - Hilbert's projective metric Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-58497 UR - http://www.pms2016.com/congreso/ficha.en.html SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Grötschel, Martin A1 - Löbel, Andreas T1 - Der Schnellste Weg zum Ziel N2 - Wir geben eine Einführung in die Mathematik von und mit Wegen. Nicht auf dem kürzesten, aber auf einem hoffentlich kurzweiligen Weg! T3 - ZIB-Report - SC-99-32 KW - Kürzeste Wege KW - Kombinatorische Optimierung KW - Operations Research Y1 - 1999 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-4209 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Buwaya, Julia A1 - Sagnol, Guillaume A1 - Swarat, Elmar T1 - Network Spot Checking Games: Theory and Application to Toll Enforcing in Transportation Networks N2 - We introduce the class of spot-checking games (SC games). These games model problems where the goal is to distribute fare inspectors over a toll network. In an SC game, the pure strategies of network users correspond to paths in a graph, and the pure strategies of the inspectors are subset of edges to be controlled. Although SC games are not zero-sum, we show that a Nash equilibrium can be computed by linear programming. The computation of a strong Stackelberg equilibrium is more relevant for this problem, but we show that this is NP-hard. However, we give some bounds on the \emph{price of spite}, which measures how the payoff of the inspector degrades when committing to a Nash equilibrium. Finally, we demonstrate the quality of these bounds for a real-world application, namely the enforcement of a truck toll on German motorways. T3 - ZIB-Report - 14-07 KW - Game Theory KW - Stackelberg Equilibrium KW - Security Games KW - Mixed Integer Programming KW - Price of Anarchy Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-47139 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Schwartz, Stephan A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Bartz, Gerald T1 - The Graph Segmentation Problem N2 - We investigate a graph theoretical problem arising in the automatic billing of a network toll. Given a network and a family of user paths, we study the graph segmentation problem (GSP) to cover parts of the user paths by a set of disjoint segments. The GSP is shown to be NP-hard but for special cases it can be solved in polynomial time. We also show that the marginal utility of a segment is bounded. Computational results for real-world instances show that in practice the problem is more amenable than the theoretic bounds suggest. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-53 KW - toll billing KW - graph segmentation KW - combinatorial optimization Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-60750 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Sagnol, Guillaume A1 - Balzer, Felix A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Spies, Claudia A1 - von Dincklage, Falk T1 - Makespan and Tardiness in Activity Networks with Lognormal Activity Durations N2 - We propose an algorithm to approximate the distribution of the completion time (makespan) and the tardiness costs of a project, when durations are lognormally distributed. This problem arises naturally for the optimization of surgery scheduling, where it is very common to assume lognormal procedure times. We present an analogous of Clark's formulas to compute the moments of the maximum of a set of lognormal variables. Then, we use moment matching formulas to approximate the earliest starting time of each activity of the project by a shifted lognormal variable. This approach can be seen as a lognormal variant of a state-of-the-art method used for the statistical static timing analysis (SSTA) of digital circuits. We carried out numerical experiments with instances based on real data from the application to surgery scheduling. We obtained very promising results, especially for the approximation of the mean overtime in operating rooms, for which our algorithm yields results of a similar quality to Monte-Carlo simulations requiring an amount of computing time several orders of magnitude larger. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-23 KW - scheduling KW - activity network KW - lognormal distribution Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-59290 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Blanco, Marco A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Hoang, Nam-Dung A1 - Kaier, Anton A1 - Schlechte, Thomas A1 - Schlobach, Swen T1 - The Shortest Path Problem with Crossing Costs N2 - We introduce the shortest path problem with crossing costs (SPPCC), a shortest path problem in a directed graph, in which the objective function is the sum of arc weights and crossing costs. The former are independently paid for each arc used by the path, the latter need to be paid every time the path intersects certain sets of arcs, which we call regions. The SPPCC generalizes not only the classical shortest path problem but also variants such as the resource constrained shortest path problem and the minimum label path problem. We use the SPPCC to model the flight trajectory optimization problem with overflight costs. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the problem. In particular, we identify efficient exact and approximation algorithms for the cases that are most relevant in practice. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-70 Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-61240 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Schenker, Sebastian A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Skutella, Martin T1 - A novel partitioning of the set of non-dominated points N2 - We consider a novel partitioning of the set of non-dominated points for general multi-objective integer programs with $k$ objectives. The set of non-dominated points is partitioned into a set of non-dominated points whose efficient solutions are also efficient for some restricted subproblem with one less objective; the second partition comprises the non-dominated points whose efficient solutions are inefficient for any of the restricted subproblems. We show that the first partition has the nice property that it yields finite rectangular boxes in which the points of the second partition are located. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-55 Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-61286 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Grötschel, Martin A1 - Jaeger, Ulrich T1 - Planung von öffentlichem Personenverkehr N2 - Millionen von Menschen werden allein in Deutschland täglich von Bussen, Bahnen und Flugzeugen transportiert. Der öffentliche Personenverkehr (ÖV) ist von großer Bedeutung für die Lebensqualität einzelner aber auch für die Leistungsfähigkeit ganzer Regionen. Qualität und Effizienz von ÖV-Systemen hängen ab von politischen Rahmenbedingungen (staatlich geplant, wettbewerblich organisiert) und der Eignung der Infrastruktur (Schienensysteme, Flughafenstandorte), vom vorhandenen Verkehrsangebot (Fahr- und Flugplan), von der Verwendung angemessener Technologien (Informations-, Kontroll- und Buchungssysteme) und dem bestmöglichen Einsatz der Betriebsmittel (Energie, Fahrzeuge und Personal). Die hierbei auftretenden Entscheidungs-, Planungs- und Optimierungsprobleme sind z.T. gigantisch und "schreien" aufgrund ihrer hohen Komplexität nach Unterstützung durch Mathematik. Dieser Artikel skizziert den Stand und die Bedeutung des Einsatzes von Mathematik bei der Planung und Durchführung von öffentlichem Personenverkehr, beschreibt die bestehenden Herausforderungen und regt zukunftsweisende Maßnahmen an. T3 - ZIB-Report - 08-20 KW - Produktionsfaktor Mathematik KW - Öffentlicher Personenverkehr KW - Diskrete Optimierung KW - Operations Research Y1 - 2008 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-10744 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Schlechte, Thomas A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf T1 - Balancing Efficiency and Robustness – A Bi-criteria Optimization Approach to Railway Track Allocation N2 - Technical restrictions and challenging details let railway traffic become one of the most complex transportation systems. Routing trains in a conflict-free way through a track network is one of the basic scheduling problems for any railway company. This article focuses on a robust extension of this problem, also known as train timetabling problem (TTP), which consists in finding a schedule, a conflict free set of train routes, of maximum value for a given railway network. However, timetables are not only required to be profitable. Railway companies are also interested in reliable and robust solutions. Intuitively, we expect a more robust track allocation to be one where disruptions arising from delays are less likely to be propagated causing delays of subsequent trains. This trade-off between an efficient use of railway infrastructure and the prospects of recovery leads us to a bi-criteria optimization approach. On the one hand we want to maximize the profit of a schedule, that is more or less to maximize the number of feasible routed trains. On the other hand if two trains are scheduled as tight as possible after each other it is clear that a delay of the first one always affects the subsequent train. We present extensions of the integer programming formulation in [BorndoerferSchlechte2007] for solving (TTP). These models can incorporate both aspects, because of the additional track configuration variables. We discuss how these variables can directly be used to measure a certain type of robustness of a timetable. For these models which can be solved by column generation techniques, we propose so-called scalarization techniques, see [Ehrgott2005], to determine efficient solutions. Here, an efficient solution is one which does not allow any improvement in profit and robustness at the same time. We prove that the LP-relaxation of the (TTP) including an additional $\epsilon$-constraint remains solvable in polynomial time. Finally, we present some preliminary results on macroscopic real-world data of a part of the German long distance railway network. T3 - ZIB-Report - 08-22 KW - Train Timetabling Problem KW - Bicriteria Optimization KW - Column Generation Y1 - 2008 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-10763 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Neumann, Marika A1 - Pfetsch, Marc T1 - The Line Connectivity Problem N2 - This paper introduces the "line connectivity problem", a generalization of the Steiner tree problem and a special case of the line planning problem. We study its complexity and give an IP formulation in terms of an exponential number of constraints associated with "line cut constraints". These inequalities can be separated in polynomial time. We also generalize the Steiner partition inequalities. T3 - ZIB-Report - 08-31 KW - Steiner Tree Generalization Y1 - 2008 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-10820 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Neumann, Marika A1 - Pfetsch, Marc T1 - Models for Fare Planning in Public Transport N2 - The optimization of fare systems in public transit allows to pursue objectives such as the maximization of demand, revenue, profit, or social welfare. We propose a non-linear optimization approach to fare planning that is based on a detailed discrete choice model of user behavior. The approach allows to analyze different fare structures, optimization objectives, and operational scenarios involving, e.g., subsidies. We use the resulting models to compute optimized fare systems for the city of Potsdam, Germany. T3 - ZIB-Report - 08-16 KW - Preisplanung KW - Nachfragefunktion KW - Optimierung KW - Nahverkehr Y1 - 2008 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-10708 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Neumann, Marika A1 - Pfetsch, Marc T1 - Angebotsplanung im öffentlichen Nahverkehr T1 - Service Design in Public Transport N2 - Die Angebotsplanung im öffentlichen Nahverkehr umfasst die Aufgaben der Netz-, Linien-,Fahr- und Preisplanung. Wir stellen zwei mathematische Optimierungsmodelle zur Linien- und Preisplanung vor. Wir zeigen anhand von Berechnungen für die Verkehrsbetriebe in Potsdam(ViP), dass sich damit komplexe Zusammenhänge quantitativ analysieren lassen. Auf diese Weise untersuchen wir die Auswirkungen von Freiheitsgraden auf die Konstruktion von Linien und die Wahl von Reisewegen der Passagiere, Abhängigkeiten zwischen Kosten und Reisezeiten sowie den Einfluss verschiedener Preissysteme auf Nachfrage und Kostendeckung. T3 - ZIB-Report - 08-04 KW - Preisplanung KW - Linienplanung KW - Optimierung Y1 - 2008 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-10555 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Liebchen, Christian T1 - When Periodic Timetables are Suboptimal N2 - The timetable is the essence of the service offered by any provider of public transport'' (Jonathan Tyler, CASPT 2006). Indeed, the timetable has a major impact on both operating costs and on passenger comfort. Most European agglomerations and railways use periodic timetables in which operation repeats in regular intervals. In contrast, many North and South American municipalities use trip timetables in which the vehicle trips are scheduled individually subject to frequency constraints. We compare these two strategies with respect to vehicle operation costs. It turns out that for short time horizons, periodic timetabling can be suboptimal; for sufficiently long time horizons, however, periodic timetabling can always be done in an optimal way'. T3 - ZIB-Report - 07-29 KW - Taktfahrplan KW - Fahrplan KW - Nahverkehr KW - periodic timetable KW - trip timetable KW - public transport Y1 - 2007 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-9151 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Grötschel, Martin A1 - Lukac, Sascha A1 - Mitusch, Kay A1 - Schlechte, Thomas A1 - Schultz, Sören A1 - Tanner, Andreas T1 - An Auctioning Approach to Railway Slot Allocation N2 - We present an approach to implement an auction of railway slots. Railway network, train driving characteristics, and safety requirements are described by a simplified, but still complex macroscopic model. In this environment, slots are modelled as combinations of scheduled track segments. The auction design builds on the iterative combinatorial auction. However, combinatorial bids are restricted to some types of slot bundles that realize positive synergies between slots. We present a bidding language that allows bidding for these slot bundles. An integer programming approach is proposed to solve the winner determination problem of our auction. Computational results for auction simulations in the Hannover-Fulda-Kassel area of the German railway network give evidence that auction approaches can induce a more efficient use of railway capacity. T3 - ZIB-Report - 05-45 KW - Railway Slot Allocation KW - Train Dispatching KW - Combinatorial Auctions Y1 - 2005 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-8786 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Neumann, Marika A1 - Pfetsch, Marc T1 - Fare Planning for Public Transport N2 - In this paper we introduce the fare planning problem for public transport which consists in designing a system of fares maximizing revenue. We propose a new simple general model for this problem. It i s based on a demand function and constraints for the different fares. The constraints define the structure of the fare system, e.g., distance dependent fares or zone fares. We discuss a simple example with a quadratic demand function and distance dependent fares. Then we introduce a more realistic discrete choice model in which passengers choose between different alternatives depending on the numb er of trips per month. We demonstrate the examples by computational experiments. T3 - ZIB-Report - 05-20 KW - fare planning KW - demand function KW - discrete choice model Y1 - 2005 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-8541 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Grimm, Boris A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Reuther, Markus A1 - Schade, Stanley A1 - Schlechte, Thomas T1 - A Propagation Approach to Acyclic Rolling Stock Rotation Optimization N2 - The rolling stock, i.e., railway vehicles, are one of the key ingredients of a running railway system. As it is well known, the offer of a railway company to their customers, i.e., the railway timetable, changes from time to time. Typical reasons for that are different timetables associated with different seasons, maintenance periods or holidays. Therefore, the regular lifetime of a timetable is split into (more or less) irregular periods where parts of the timetable are changed. In order to operate a railway timetable most railway companies set up sequences that define the operation of timetabled trips by a single physical railway vehicle called (rolling stock) rotations. Not surprisingly, the individual parts of a timetable also affect the rotations. More precisely, each of the parts brings up an acyclic rolling stock rotation problem with start and end conditions associated with the beginning and ending of the corresponding period. In this paper, we propose a propagation approach to deal with large planning horizons that are composed of many timetables with shorter individual lifetimes. The approach is based on an integer linear programming formulation that propagates rolling stock rotations through the irregular parts of the timetable while taking a large variety of operational requirements into account. This approach is implemented within the rolling stock rotation optimization framework ROTOR used by DB Fernverkehr AG, one of the leading railway operators in Europe. Computational results for real world scenarios are presented to evaluate the approach. T3 - ZIB-Report - 17-24 Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-63930 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Buwaya, Julia A1 - Sagnol, Guillaume A1 - Swarat, Elmar T1 - Optimizing Toll Enforcement in Transportation Networks: a Game-Theoretic Approach N2 - We present a game-theoretic approach to optimize the strategies of toll enforcement on a motorway network. In contrast to previous approaches, we consider a network with an arbitrary topology, and we handle the fact that users may choose their Origin-Destination path; in particular they may take a detour to avoid sections with a high control rate. We show that a Nash equilibrium can be computed with an LP (although the game is not zero-sum), and we give a MIP for the computation of a Stackelberg equilibrium. Experimental results based on an application to the enforcement of a truck toll on German motorways are presented. T3 - ZIB-Report - 12-47 KW - Stackelberg Equilibrium KW - Game Theory KW - Mixed Integer Programming Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-17401 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Sagnol, Guillaume A1 - Swarat, Elmar T1 - An IP Approach to Toll Enforcement Optimization on German Motorways N2 - This paper proposes the first model for toll enforcement optimization on German motorways. The enforcement is done by mobile control teams and our goal is to produce a schedule achieving network-wide control, proportional to spatial and time-dependent traffic distributions. Our model consists of two parts. The first plans control tours using a vehicle routing approach with profits and some side constraints. The second plans feasible rosters for the control teams. Both problems can be modeled as Multi-Commodity Flow Problems. Adding additional coupling constraints produces a large-scale integrated integer programming formulation. We show that this model can be solved to optimality for real world instances associated with a control area in East Germany. T3 - ZIB-Report - 11-42 KW - Toll Enforcement KW - Vehicle Routing Problem KW - Duty Roster Planning KW - Integer Programming Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-14299 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Sagnol, Guillaume A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Schlechte, Thomas A1 - Swarat, Elmar T1 - The Price of Spite in Spot-checking games N2 - We introduce the class of spot-checking games (SC games). These games model problems where the goal is to distribute fare inspectors over a toll network. Although SC games are not zero-sum, we show that a Nash equilibrium can be computed by linear programming. The computation of a strong Stackelberg equilibrium is more relevant for this problem, but we show that this is NP-hard. However, we give some bounds on the \emph{price of spite}, which measures how the payoff of the inspector degrades when committing to a Nash equilibrium. Finally, we demonstrate the quality of these bounds for a real-world application, namely the enforcement of a truck toll on German motorways. T3 - ZIB-Report - 14-38 Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-52775 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Renken, Malte A1 - Ahmadi, Amin A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Sahin, Guvenc A1 - Schlechte, Thomas T1 - Demand-Driven Line Planning with Selfish Routing N2 - Bus rapid transit systems in developing and newly industrialized countries are often operated at the limits of passenger capacity. In particular, demand during morning and afternoon peaks is hardly or even not covered with available line plans. In order to develop demand-driven line plans, we use two mathematical models in the form of integer programming problem formulations. While the actual demand data is specified with origin-destination pairs, the arc-based model considers the demand over the arcs derived from the origin-destination demand. In order to test the accuracy of the models in terms of demand satisfaction, we simulate the optimal solutions and compare number of transfers and travel times. We also question the effect of a selfish route choice behavior which in theory results in a Braess-like paradox by increasing the number of transfers when system capacity is increased with additional lines. T3 - ZIB-Report - 17-38 Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-64547 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Brett, Charles A1 - Hoberg, Rebecca A1 - Pacheco, Meritxell A1 - Smith, Kyle A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Euler, Ricardo A1 - Gamrath, Gerwin A1 - Grimm, Boris A1 - Heismann, Olga A1 - Reuther, Markus A1 - Schlechte, Thomas A1 - Tesch, Alexander T1 - G-RIPS 2014 RailLab - Towards robust rolling stock rotations N2 - The Graduate-Level Research in Industrial Projects (G-RIPS) Program provides an opportunity for high-achieving graduate-level students to work in teams on a real-world research project proposed by a sponsor from industry or the public sector. Each G-RIPS team consists of four international students (two from the US and two from European universities), an academic mentor, and an industrial sponsor. This is the report of the Rail-Lab project on the definition and integration of robustness aspects into optimizing rolling stock schedules. In general, there is a trade-off for complex systems between robustness and efficiency. The ambitious goal was to explore this trade-off by implementing numerical simulations and developing analytic models. In rolling stock planning a very large set of industrial railway requirements, such as vehicle composition, maintenance constraints, infrastructure capacity, and regularity aspects, have to be considered in an integrated model. General hypergraphs provide the modeling power to tackle those requirements. Furthermore, integer programming approaches are able to produce high quality solutions for the deterministic problem. When stochastic time delays are considered, the mathematical programming problem is much more complex and presents additional challenges. Thus, we started with a basic variant of the deterministic case, i.e., we are only considering hypergraphs representing vehicle composition and regularity. We transfered solution approaches for robust optimization from the airline industry to the setting of railways and attained a reasonable measure of robustness. Finally, we present and discuss different methods to optimize this robustness measure. T3 - ZIB-Report - 14-34 KW - robust optimization, rolling stock planning Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-53475 SN - 1438-0064 N1 - ZIB-Report 14-34 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Hoppmann, Heide A1 - Karbstein, Marika A1 - Löbel, Fabian T1 - The Modulo Network Simplex with Integrated Passenger Routing N2 - Periodic timetabling is an important strategic planning problem in public transport. The task is to determine periodic arrival and departure times of the lines in a given network, minimizing the travel time of the passengers. We extend the modulo network simplex method, a well-established heuristic for the periodic timetabling problem, by integrating a passenger (re)routing step into the pivot operations. Computations on real-world networks show that we can indeed find timetables with much shorter total travel time, when we take the passengers' travel paths into consideration. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-43 KW - periodic timetabling, modulo network simplex, passenger routing Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-60319 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Klug, Torsten A1 - Lamorgese, Leonardo A1 - Mannino, Carlo A1 - Reuther, Markus A1 - Schlechte, Thomas T1 - Recent Success Stories on Optimization of Railway Systems N2 - Planning and operating railway transportation systems is an extremely hard task due to the combinatorial complexity of the underlying discrete optimization problems, the technical intricacies, and the immense size of the problem instances. Because of that, however, mathematical models and optimization techniques can result in large gains for both railway cus- tomers and operators, e.g., in terms of cost reductions or service quality improvements. In the last years a large and growing group of researchers in the OR community have devoted their attention to this domain devel- oping mathematical models and optimization approaches to tackle many of the relevant problems in the railway planning process. However, there is still a gap to bridge between theory and practice, with a few notable exceptions. In this paper we address three success stories, namely, long-term freight train routing (part I), mid-term rolling stock rotation planning (part II), and real-time train dispatching (part III). In each case, we describe real-life, successful implementations. We will dis- cuss the individual problem setting, survey the optimization literature, and focus on particular aspects addressed by the mathematical models. We demonstrate on concrete applications how mathematical optimization can support railway planning and operations. This gives proof that math- ematical optimization can support the planning of rolling stock resources. Thus, mathematical models and optimization can lead to a greater effi- ciency of railway operations and will serve as a powerful and innovative tool to meet recent challenges of the railway industry. T3 - ZIB-Report - 14-47 KW - railway planning KW - railway operations KW - capacity optimization Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-53726 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Karbstein, Marika T1 - Metric Inequalities for Routings on Direct Connections with Application in Line Planning N2 - We consider multi-commodity flow problems in which capacities are installed on paths. In this setting, it is often important to distinguish between flows on direct connection routes, using single paths, and flows that include path switching. We derive a feasibility condition for path capacities supporting such direct connection flows similar to the feasibility condition for arc capacities in ordinary multi-commodity flows. The concept allows to solve large-scale real-world line planning problems in public transport including a novel passenger routing model that favors direct connections over connections with transfers. T3 - ZIB-Report - 15-07 KW - combinatorial optimization KW - integer programming KW - line planning KW - transfers KW - direct connection KW - metric inequalities Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-53507 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Schlechte, Thomas T1 - Models for Railway Track Allocation N2 - This article is about the optimal track allocation problem (OPTRA) to find, in a given railway network, a conflict free set of train routes of maximum value. We study two types of integer programming formulations: a standard formulation that models block conflicts in terms of packing constraints, and a new extended formulation that is based on additional configuration' variables. We show that the packing constraints in the standard formulation stem from an interval graph, and that they can be separated in polynomial time. It follows that the LP relaxation of a strong version of this model, including all clique inequalities from block conflicts, can be solved in polynomial time. We prove that the extended formulation produces the same LP bound, and that it can also be computed with this model in polynomial time. Albeit the two formulations are in this sense equivalent, the extended formulation has advantages from a computational point of view, because it features a constant number of rows and is therefore amenable to standard column generation techniques. Results of an empirical model comparison on mesoscopic data for the Hannover-Fulda-Kassel region of the German long distance railway network are reported. T3 - ZIB-Report - 07-02 KW - Railway Slot Allocation KW - Train Timetabling KW - Combinatorial Optimization KW - Linear and Integer Programming Y1 - 2007 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-9451 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Schlechte, Thomas T1 - Solving Railway Track Allocation Problems N2 - The \emph{optimal track allocation problem} (\textsc{OPTRA}), also known as the train routing problem or the train timetabling problem, is to find, in a given railway network, a conflict-free set of train routes of maximum value. We propose a novel integer programming formulation for this problem that is based on additional configuration' variables. Its LP-relaxation can be solved in polynomial time. These results are the theoretical basis for a column generation algorithm to solve large-scale track allocation problems. Computational results for the Hanover-Kassel-Fulda area of the German long distance railway network involving up to 570 trains are reported. T3 - ZIB-Report - 07-20 KW - railway track allocation KW - timetabling KW - column generation Y1 - 2007 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-9631 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Schlechte, Thomas A1 - Swarat, Elmar T1 - Railway Track Allocation - Simulation, Aggregation, and Optimization N2 - Today the railway timetabling process and the track allocation is one of the most challenging problems to solve by a railway company. Especially due to the deregulation of the transport market in the recent years several suppliers of railway traffic have entered the market in Europe. This leads to more potential conflicts between trains caused by an increasing demand of train paths. Planning and operating railway transportation systems is extremely hard due to the combinatorial complexity of the underlying discrete optimization problems, the technical intricacies, and the immense size of the problem instances. In order to make best use of the infrastructure and to ensure economic operation, efficient planning of the railway operation is indispensable. Mathematical optimization models and algorithms can help to automatize and tackle these challenges. Our contribution in this paper is to present a renewed planning process due to the liberalization in Europe and an associated concept for track allocation, that consists of three important parts, simulation, aggregation, and optimization. Furthermore, we present results of our general framework for real world data. T3 - ZIB-Report - 11-35 KW - railway models, railway capacity, track allocation framework Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-14031 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Friedow, Isabel A1 - Karbstein, Marika T1 - Optimierung des Linienplans 2010 in Potsdam N2 - Im Zuge der Übernahme von 6 Linien der Havelbus Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH durch die ViP Verkehr in Potsdam GmbH ergab sich 2009 die Notwendigkeit der Entwicklung eines neuen Linien- und Taktplans für das Jahr 2010. Das Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum für Informationstechnik Berlin (ZIB) entwickelt in einem Projekt des DFG-Forschungszentrums Matheon ein Verfahren zur mathematischen Linienoptimierung. Dieses Tool wurde bei der Optimierung des ViP Linienplans 2010 in einer projektbegleitenden Studie eingesetzt, um Alternativen bei verschiedenen Planungs- und Zielvorgaben auszuloten. In dem Artikel wird eine Auswertung der Ergebnisse mit dem Verkehrsanalysesystem Visum der PTV AG beschrieben. Die Auswertungen bestätigen, dass mit Hilfe von mathematischer Optimierung eine weitere Verkürzung der Reisezeit um 1%, eine als um 6% verkürzt empfundene Reisezeit, 10% weniger Fahrzeit im Fahrzeug und eine gleichzeitige Kostenreduktion um 5% möglich sind. T3 - ZIB-Report - 12-04 KW - Fallstudie KW - Linienplan KW - Optimierung Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-14486 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Heismann, Olga T1 - Minimum Cost Hyperassignments with Applications to ICE/IC Rotation Planning N2 - Vehicle rotation planning is a fundamental problem in rail transport. It decides how the railcars, locomotives, and carriages are operated in order to implement the trips of the timetable. One important planning requirement is operational regularity, i.e., using the rolling stock in the same way on every day of operation. We propose to take regularity into account by modeling the vehicle rotation planning problem as a minimum cost hyperassignment problem (HAP). Hyperassignments are generalizations of assignments from directed graphs to directed hypergraphs. Finding a minimum cost hyperassignment is NP-hard. Most instances arising from regular vehicle rotation planning, however, can be solved well in practice. We show that, in particular, clique inequalities strengthen the canonical LP relaxation substantially. T3 - ZIB-Report - 11-46 KW - hyperassignments KW - vehicle rotation planning Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-14564 UR - http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-29210-1_10 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Karbstein, Marika T1 - A Note on Menger's Theorem for Hypergraphs N2 - We prove the companion Theorem to Menger's Theorem for hypergraphs. This result gives rise to a new class of blocking pairs of ideal matrices, that generalize the incidence matrices of cuts and paths. T3 - ZIB-Report - 12-03 KW - ideal matrices Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-14471 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Scheumann, Rene A1 - Fügenschuh, Armin A1 - Schenker, Sebastian A1 - Vierhaus, Ingmar A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Finkbeiner, Matthias T1 - Global Manufacturing: How to Use Mathematical Optimisation Methods to Transform to Sustainable Value Creation N2 - It is clear that a transformation to sustainable value creation is needed, because business as usual is not an option for preserving competitive advantages of leading industries. What does that mean? This contribution proposes possible approaches for a shift in existing manufacturing paradigms. In a first step, sustainability aspects from the German Sustainability Strategy and from the tools of life cycle sustainability assessment are chosen to match areas of a value creation process. Within these aspects are indicators, which can be measured within a manufacturing process. Once these data are obtained they can be used to set up a mathematical linear pulse model of manufacturing in order to analyse the evolution of the system over time, that is the transition process, by using a system dynamics approach. An increase of technology development by a factor of 2 leads to an increase of manufacturing but also to an increase of climate change. Compensation measures need to be taken. This can be done by e.g. taking money from the GDP (as an indicator of the aspect ``macroeconomic performance''). The value of the arc from that building block towards climate change must then be increased by a factor of 10. The choice of independent and representative indicators or aspects shall be validated and double-checked for their significance with the help of multi-criteria mixed-integer programming optimisation methods. T3 - ZIB-Report - 12-28 KW - Multi-Criteria Optimisation KW - Sustainability Indicator KW - System Dynamics KW - Value Creation Process Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-15703 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Karbstein, Marika ED - Delling, Daniel ED - Liberti, Leo T1 - A Direct Connection Approach to Integrated Line Planning and Passenger Routing T2 - ATMOS 2012 - 12th Workshop on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modeling, Optimization, and Systems N2 - The treatment of transfers is a major challenge in line planning. Existing models either route passengers and lines sequentially, and hence disregard essential degrees of freedom, or they are of extremely large scale, and seem to be computationally intractable. We propose a novel direct connection approach that allows an integrated optimization of line and passenger routing, including accurate estimates of the number of direct travelers, for large-scale real-world instances. T3 - ZIB-Report - 12-29 KW - combinatorial optimization KW - integer programming KW - line planning KW - transfers Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-15812 SN - 1438-0064 VL - 25 SP - 47 EP - 57 PB - Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Grötschel, Martin A1 - Löbel, Andreas T1 - The Quickest Path to the Goal N2 - We provide an introduction into the mathematics of and with paths. Not on the shortest, but hopefully on an entertaining path! T3 - ZIB-Report - 10-21 KW - shortest paths KW - combinatorial optimization KW - operations research Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11840 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Dovica, Ivan A1 - Nowak, Ivo A1 - Schickinger, Thomas T1 - Robust Tail Assignment N2 - We propose an efficient column generation method to minimize the probability of delay propagations along aircraft rotations. In this way, delay resistant schedules can be constructed. Computational results for large-scale real-world problems demonstrate substantial punctuality improvements. The method can be generalized to crew and integrated scheduling problems. T3 - ZIB-Report - 10-08 KW - Flugzeugumlaufplanung KW - robuste Optimierung KW - Spaltenerzeugung KW - Tail Assignment KW - Robust Optimization KW - Column Generation Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11707 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Neumann, Marika T1 - Models for Line Planning with Transfers N2 - We propose a novel integer programming approach to transfer minimization for line planning problems in public transit. The idea is to incorporate penalties for transfers that are induced by “connection capacities” into the construction of the passenger paths. We show that such penalties can be dealt with by a combination of shortest and constrained shortest path algorithms such that the pricing problem for passenger paths can be solved efficiently. Connection capacity penalties (under)estimate the true transfer times. This error is, however, not a problem in practice. We show in a computational comparison with two standard models on a real-world scenario that our approach can be used to minimize passenger travel and transfer times for large-scale line planning problems with accurate results. T3 - ZIB-Report - 10-11 KW - Linienplanung KW - Umsteigen KW - Ganzzahlige Programmierung KW - Kombinatorische Optimierung KW - line planning KW - transfers KW - integer programming KW - combinatorial optimization Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11742 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Neumann, Marika T1 - Linienoptimierung - reif für die Praxis? N2 - Wir stellen in dieser Arbeit ein mathematisches Optimierungsmodell zur Bestimmung eines optimalen Linienplans vor, das sowohl die Fahrzeiten und die Anzahl der Umstiege berücksichtigt als auch die Kosten des Liniennetzes. Dieses Modell deckt wichtige praktische Anforderungen ab, die in einem gemeinsamen Projekt mit den Verkehrsbetrieben in Potsdam (ViP) formuliert wurden. In diesem Projekt wurde der Linienplan 2010 für Potsdam entwickelt. Unsere Berechnungen zeigen, dass die mathematische Optimierung in nichts einer "Handplanung" des Liniennetzes nachsteht. Im Gegenteil, mit Hilfe des Optimierungsprogramms ist es möglich, durch Veränderung der Parameter mehrere verschiedene Szenarien zu berechnen, miteinander zu vergleichen und Aussagen über minimale Kosten und Fahrzeiten zu machen. T3 - ZIB-Report - 10-20 KW - Linienplanung KW - Optimierung Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11832 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Blanco, Marco A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Hoang, Nam-Dung A1 - Kaier, Anton A1 - Maristany de las Casas, Pedro A1 - Schlechte, Thomas A1 - Schlobach, Swen T1 - Cost Projection Methods for the Shortest Path Problem with Crossing Costs N2 - Real world routing problems, e.g., in the airline industry or in public and rail transit, can feature complex non-linear cost functions. An important case are costs for crossing regions, such as countries or fare zones. We introduce the shortest path problem with crossing costs (SPPCC) to address such situations; it generalizes the classical shortest path problem and variants such as the resource constrained shortest path problem and the minimum label path problem. Motivated by an application in flight trajectory optimization with overflight costs, we focus on the case in which the crossing costs of a region depend only on the nodes used to enter or exit it. We propose an exact Two-Layer-Dijkstra Algorithm as well as a novel cost-projection linearization technique that approximates crossing costs by shadow costs on individual arcs, thus reducing the SPPCC to a standard shortest path problem. We evaluate all algorithms’ performance on real-world flight trajectory optimization instances, obtaining very good à posteriori error bounds. T3 - ZIB-Report - 17-48 Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-64817 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Reuther, Markus A1 - Schlechte, Thomas A1 - Schulz, Christof A1 - Swarat, Elmar A1 - Weider, Steffen T1 - Duty Rostering in Public Transport - Facing Preferences, Fairness, and Fatigue N2 - Duty rostering problems occur in different application contexts and come in different flavors. They give rise to very large scale integer programs which ypically have lots of solutions and extremely fractional LP relaxations. In such a situation, heuristics can be a viable algorithmic choice. We propose an mprovement method of the Lin-Kernighan type for the solution of duty rostering problems. We illustrate its versatility and solution quality on three different applications in public transit, vehicle routing, and airline rostering with a focus on the management of preferences, fairness, and fatigue, respectively. T3 - ZIB-Report - 15-44 Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-56070 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Sagnol, Guillaume A1 - Swarat, Elmar T1 - A Case Study on Optimizing Toll Enforcements on Motorways N2 - In this paper we present the problem of computing optimal tours of toll inspectors on German motorways. This problem is a special type of vehicle routing problem and builds up an integrated model, consisting of a tour planning and a duty rostering part. The tours should guarantee a network-wide control whose intensity is proportional to given spatial and time dependent traffic distributions. We model this using a space-time network and formulate the associated optimization problem by an integer program (IP). Since sequential approaches fail, we integrated the assignment of crews to the tours in our model. In this process all duties of a crew member must fit in a feasible roster. It is modeled as a Multi-Commodity Flow Problem in a directed acyclic graph, where specific paths correspond to feasible rosters for one month. We present computational results in a case-study on a German subnetwork which documents the practicability of our approach. T3 - ZIB-Report - 12-21 KW - Vehicle Routing Problem KW - Duty Rostering KW - Integer Programming KW - Operations Research Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-15498 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Arslan, Oytun A1 - Elijazyfer, Ziena A1 - Güler, Hakan A1 - Renken, Malte A1 - Sahin, Güvenc A1 - Schlechte, Thomas T1 - Line Planning on Path Networks with Application to the Istanbul Metrobüs N2 - Bus rapid transit systems in developing and newly industrialized countries often consist of a trunk with a path topology. On this trunk, several overlapping lines are operated which provide direct connections. The demand varies heavily over the day, with morning and afternoon peaks typically in reverse directions. We propose an integer programming model for this problem, derive a structural property of line plans in the static (or single period) ``unimodal demand'' case, and consider approaches to the solution of the multi-period version that rely on clustering the demand into peak and off-peak service periods. An application to the Metrobüs system of Istanbul is discussed. T3 - ZIB-Report - 16-38 KW - line planning KW - unimodal demand Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-60119 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Breuer, Matthias A1 - Grimm, Boris A1 - Reuther, Markus A1 - Schade, Stanley A1 - Schlechte, Thomas T1 - Timetable Sparsification by Rolling Stock Rotation Optimization N2 - Rolling stock optimization is a task that naturally arises by operating a railway system. It could be seen with different level of details. From a strategic perspective to have a rough plan which types of fleets to be bought to a more operational perspective to decide which coaches have to be maintained first. This paper presents a new approach to deal with rolling stock optimisation in case of a (long term) strike. Instead of constructing a completely new timetable for the strike period, we propose a mixed integer programming model that is able to choose appropriate trips from a given timetable to construct efficient tours of railway vehicles covering an optimized subset of trips, in terms of deadhead kilometers and importance of the trips. The decision which trip is preferred over the other is made by a simple evaluation method that is deduced from the network and trip defining data. T3 - ZIB-Report - 17-63 Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-65948 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Schade, Stanley A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Breuer, Matthias A1 - Grimm, Boris A1 - Reuther, Markus A1 - Schlechte, Thomas A1 - Siebeneicher, Patrick T1 - Pattern Detection For Large-Scale Railway Timetables N2 - We consider railway timetables of our industrial partner DB Fernverkehr AG that operates the ICE high speed trains in the long-distance passenger railway network of Germany. Such a timetable covers a whole year with 364 days and, typically, includes more than 45,000 trips. A rolling stock rotation plan is not created for the whole timetable at once. Instead the timetable is divided into regular invariant sections and irregular deviations (e.g. for public holidays). A separate rotation plan with a weekly period can then be provided for each of the different sections of the timetable. We present an algorithmic approach to automatically recognize these sections. Together with the supplementing visualisation of the timetable this method has shown to be very relevant for our industrial partner. T3 - ZIB-Report - 17-17 KW - railway timetables KW - visualization KW - pattern detection Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-63390 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Grötschel, Martin A1 - Jaeger, Ulrich T1 - Planning Problems in Public Transit N2 - Every day, millions of people are transported by buses, trains, and airplanes in Germany. Public transit (PT) is of major importance for the quality of life of individuals as well as the productivity of entire regions. Quality and efficiency of PT systems depend on the political framework (state-run, market oriented) and the suitability of the infrastructure (railway tracks, airport locations), the existing level of service (timetable, flight schedule), the use of adequate technologies (information, control, and booking systems), and the best possible deployment of equipment and resources (energy, vehicles, crews). The decision, planning, and optimization problems arising in this context are often gigantic and “scream” for mathematical support because of their complexity. This article sketches the state and the relevance of mathematics in planning and operating public transit, describes today’s challenges, and suggests a number of innovative actions. The current contribution of mathematics to public transit is — depending on the transportation mode — of varying depth. Air traffic is already well supported by mathematics. Bus traffic made significant advances in recent years, while rail traffic still bears significant opportunities for improvements. In all areas of public transit, the existing potentials are far from being exhausted. For some PT problems, such as vehicle and crew scheduling in bus and air traffic, excellent mathematical tools are not only available, but used in many places. In other areas, such as rolling stock rostering in rail traffic, the performance of the existing mathematical algorithms is not yet sufficient. Some topics are essentially untouched from a mathematical point of view; e.g., there are (except for air traffic) no network design or fare planning models of practical relevance. PT infrastructure construction is essentially devoid of mathematics, even though enormous capital investments are made in this area. These problems lead to questions that can only be tackled by engineers, economists, politicians, and mathematicians in a joint effort. Among other things, the authors propose to investigate two specific topics, which can be addressed at short notice, are of fundamental importance not only for the area of traffic planning, should lead to a significant improvement in the collaboration of all involved parties, and, if successful, will be of real value for companies and customers: • discrete optimal control: real-time re-planning of traffic systems in case of disruptions, • model integration: service design in bus and rail traffic. Work on these topics in interdisciplinary research projects could be funded by the German ministry of research and education (BMBF), the German ministry of economics (BMWi), or the German science foundation (DFG). T3 - ZIB-Report - 09-13 KW - öffentlicher Verkehr KW - diskrete Optimierung KW - ganzzahlige Programmierung KW - public transit KW - discrete optimization KW - integer programming Y1 - 2009 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11252 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Cardonha, Carlos T1 - A Set Partitioning Approach to Shunting N2 - The Vehicle Positioning Problem (VPP) is a classical combinatorial optimization problem in public transport planning. A number of models and approaches have been suggested in the literature, which work for small problems, but not for large ones. We propose in this article a novel set partitioning model and an associated column generation solution approach for the VPP. The model provides a tight linear description of the problem. The pricing problem, and hence the LP relaxation itself, can be solved in polynomial resp. pseudo-polynomial time for some versions of the problems. T3 - ZIB-Report - 09-18 KW - integer programming KW - set partitioning KW - combinatorial packing KW - vehicle positioning Y1 - 2009 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11326 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Neumann, Marika A1 - Pfetsch, Marc T1 - The Steiner Connectivity Problem N2 - The Steiner connectivity problem is a generalization of the Steiner tree problem. It consists in finding a minimum cost set of simple paths to connect a subset of nodes in an undirected graph. We show that polyhedral and algorithmic results on the Steiner tree problem carry over to the Steiner connectivity problem, namely, the Steiner cut and the Steiner partition inequalities, as well as the associated polynomial time separation algorithms, can be generalized. Similar to the Steiner tree case, a directed formulation, which is stronger than the natural undirected one, plays a central role. T3 - ZIB-Report - 09-07 KW - Steiner Tree KW - Partition Inequalities KW - Paths KW - Connectivity KW - Generalization Y1 - 2009 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11171 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Torres, Luis Miguel A1 - Torres, Ramiro A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Pfetsch, Marc T1 - Line Planning on Paths and Tree Networks with Applications to the Quito Trolebus System (Extended Abstract) N2 - Line planning is an important step in the strategic planning process of a public transportation system. In this paper, we discuss an optimization model for this problem in order to minimize operation costs while guaranteeing a certain level of quality of service, in terms of available transport capacity. We analyze the problem for path and tree network topologies as well as several categories of line operation that are important for the Quito Trolebus system. It turns out that, from a computational complexity worst case point of view, the problem is hard in all but the most simple variants. In practice, however, instances based on real data from the Trolebus System in Quito can be solved quite well, and significant optimization potentials can be demonstrated. T3 - ZIB-Report - 08-53 KW - line planning KW - computational complexity KW - public transport KW - integer programming Y1 - 2008 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11076 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Torres, Luis Miguel A1 - Torres, Ramiro A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf A1 - Pfetsch, Marc T1 - On the Line Planning Problem in Tree Networks N2 - We introduce an optimization model for the line planning problem in a public transportation system that aims at minimizing operational costs while ensuring a given level of quality of service in terms of available transport capacity. We discuss the computational complexity of the model for tree network topologies and line structures that arise in a real-world application at the Trolebus Integrated System in Quito. Computational results for this system are reported. T3 - ZIB-Report - 08-52 KW - line planning KW - computational complexity KW - public transport optimization Y1 - 2008 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11069 SN - 1438-0064 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Borndörfer, Ralf T1 - Discrete Optimization in Public Transportation N2 - The mathematical treatment of planning problems in public transit has made significant advances in the last decade. Among others, the classical problems of vehicle and crew scheduling can nowadays be solved on a routine basis using combinatorial optimization methods. This is not yet the case for problems that pertain to the design of public transit networks, and for the problems of operations control that address the implementation of a schedule in the presence of disturbances. The article gives a sketch of the state and important developments in these areas, and it addresses important challenges. The vision is that mathematical tools of computer aided scheduling (CAS) will soon play a similar role in the design and operation of public transport systems as CAD systems in manufacturing. N2 - Die mathematische Behandlung von Planungsproblemen im öffentlichen Verkehr hat im letzten Jahrzehnt große Fortschritte gemacht. Klassische Probleme wie die Umlauf- und die Dienstplanung können heutzutage routinemäßig mit kombinatorischen Optimierungsmethoden gelöst werden. Die Behandlung von Problemen der Angebotsplanung und der Betriebssteuerung sind dagegen noch nicht ganz auf diesem Stand. Dieser Artikel gibt einen Überblick über den Stand der Forschung, über wichtige Entwicklungen und einige Herausforderungen in diesem Gebiet. Die Vision ist, dass mathematische Planungswerkzeuge im öffentlichen Verkehr (Computer Aided Scheduling, CAS) in Zukunft eine ähnliche Rolle spielen werden wie CAD-Systeme in der industriellen Fertigung. T3 - ZIB-Report - 08-56 KW - Öffentlicher Verkehr KW - Nahverkehr KW - Optimierung KW - Public Transit KW - Optimization Y1 - 2009 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-11207 SN - 1438-0064 ER -