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The line planning problem is one of the fundamental problems in strategic planning of public and rail transport. It consists in finding lines and corresponding frequencies in a transport network such that a given travel demand can be satisfied. There are (at least) two objectives. The transport company wishes to minimize operating costs, the passengers want to minimize travel times. We propose a n ew multi-commodity flow model for line planning. Its main features, in comparison to existing models, are that the passenger paths can be freely routed and that the lines are generated dynamically. We discuss properties of this model and investigate its complexity. Results with data for the city of Potsdam, Germany, are reported.
Can OR methods help the public transport industry to break even? The article gives evidence that there exist significant potentials in this direction, which can be harnessed by a combination of modern mathematical methods and local planning knowledge. Many of the planning steps in public transport are classical combinatorial problems, which can be solved in unprecedented size and quality due the rapid progress in large-scale optimization. Three examples on vehicle scheduling, duty scheduling, and integrated vehicle and duty scheduling illustrate the level that has been reached and the improvements that can be achieved today. Extensions of such methods to further questions of strategic, online, and market-oriented planning are currently investigated. In this way, OR can make a significant contribution to answer the basic but extremely difficult question ``What is a good public transport network?.
The line planning problem is one of the fundamental problems in strategic planning of public and rail transport. It consists in finding lines and corresponding frequencies in a network such that a giv en demand can be satisfied. There are two objectives. Passengers want to minimize travel times, the transport company wishes to minimize operating costs. We investigate three variants of a multi-commo dity flow model for line planning that differ with respect to passenger routings. The first model allows arbitrary routings, the second only unsplittable routings, and the third only shortest path rou tings with respect to the network. We compare these models theoretically and computationally on data for the city of Potsdam.