IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transb/v110y2018icp280-301.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Two-way-looking self-equalizing headway control for bus operations

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Shuyang
  • Lo, Hong K.

Abstract

Headway variations between successive buses, which lead to bus bunching, is undesirable for both passengers and bus operators, instigating longer average passenger waiting times and capacity underutilization of buses bunched together. Limiting bus bunching, hence, is important for urban bus operations. In this study, we analyze a two-way-looking self-equalizing control method for both deterministic and stochastic running times, derive its convergence properties, study the knock-on effect, and optimize its control parameter as a function of the number of buses operating in the route. By comparing the headways from both upstream and downstream of the control point, the control scheme will hold buses, if needed, at the control point to gradually restore the common headway of the system. By utilizing properties of the headway transition matrices associated with the control scheme, we prove that the bus headways will self-equalize under deterministic travel time. In addition, under the context of stochastic travel time variations, we prove that the headway variance of all buses will be reduced to a certain value by the control scheme. Further, we analyze the headway control parameter to determine its optimal value and adopt the scheme for dynamic control. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted to illustrate the performance of this control scheme, with promising results.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Shuyang & Lo, Hong K., 2018. "Two-way-looking self-equalizing headway control for bus operations," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 280-301.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transb:v:110:y:2018:i:c:p:280-301
    DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2018.02.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191261516308074
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.trb.2018.02.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Delgado, Felipe & Munoz, Juan Carlos & Giesen, Ricardo, 2012. "How much can holding and/or limiting boarding improve transit performance?," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1202-1217.
    2. Xuan, Yiguang & Argote, Juan & Daganzo, Carlos F., 2011. "Dynamic bus holding strategies for schedule reliability: Optimal linear control and performance analysis," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 1831-1845.
    3. Daganzo, Carlos F., 2009. "A headway-based approach to eliminate bus bunching: Systematic analysis and comparisons," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 43(10), pages 913-921, December.
    4. Bartholdi, John J. & Eisenstein, Donald D., 2012. "A self-coördinating bus route to resist bus bunching," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 481-491.
    5. Jiamin Zhao & Maged Dessouky & Satish Bukkapatnam, 2006. "Optimal Slack Time for Schedule-Based Transit Operations," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(4), pages 529-539, November.
    6. Sánchez-Martínez, G.E. & Koutsopoulos, H.N. & Wilson, N.H.M., 2016. "Real-time holding control for high-frequency transit with dynamics," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 1-19.
    7. Berrebi, Simon J. & Watkins, Kari E. & Laval, Jorge A., 2015. "A real-time bus dispatching policy to minimize passenger wait on a high frequency route," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 377-389.
    8. Arnold Barnett, 1974. "On Controlling Randomness in Transit Operations," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 102-116, May.
    9. G. F. Newell, 1974. "Control of Pairing of Vehicles on a Public Transportation Route, Two Vehicles, One Control Point," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(3), pages 248-264, August.
    10. Andres, Matthias & Nair, Rahul, 2017. "A predictive-control framework to address bus bunching," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 123-148.
    11. Liang, Shidong & Zhao, Shuzhi & Lu, Chunxiu & Ma, Minghui, 2016. "A self-adaptive method to equalize headways: Numerical analysis and comparison," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 33-43.
    12. E. E. Osuna & G. F. Newell, 1972. "Control Strategies for an Idealized Public Transportation System," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 52-72, February.
    13. Mark D. Hickman, 2001. "An Analytic Stochastic Model for the Transit Vehicle Holding Problem," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(3), pages 215-237, August.
    14. Xu Jun Eberlein & Nigel H. M. Wilson & David Bernstein, 2001. "The Holding Problem with Real–Time Information Available," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 1-18, February.
    15. Daganzo, Carlos F. & Pilachowski, Josh, 2011. "Reducing bunching with bus-to-bus cooperation," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 267-277, January.
    16. Andersson, Per-Åke & Scalia-Tomba, Gian-Paolo, 1981. "A mathematical model of an urban bus route," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 249-266, August.
    17. Ibarra-Rojas, O.J. & Delgado, F. & Giesen, R. & Muñoz, J.C., 2015. "Planning, operation, and control of bus transport systems: A literature review," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 38-75.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cortés, Cristián E. & Gil, Cristiam & Gschwender, Antonio & Rey, Pablo A., 2023. "The bus synchronization timetabling problem with dwelling times," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    2. Qian Gao & Shuyang Zhang & Guojun Chen & Yuchuan Du, 2020. "Two-Way Cooperative Priority Control of Bus Transit with Stop Capacity Constraint," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-13, February.
    3. Bian, Bomin & Zhu, Ning & Meng, Qiang, 2023. "Real-time cruising speed design approach for multiline bus systems," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 1-24.
    4. Weiya Chen & Hengpeng Zhang & Chunxiao Chen & Xiaofan Wei, 2021. "An Integrated Bus Holding and Speed Adjusting Strategy Considering Passenger’s Waiting Time Perceptions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, May.
    5. Viktoriya Degeler & Léonie Heydenrijk-Ottens & Ding Luo & Niels Oort & Hans Lint, 2021. "Unsupervised approach towards analysing the public transport bunching swings formation phenomenon," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 533-555, October.
    6. van Lieshout, Rolf N. & Bouman, Paul C. & van den Akker, Marjan & Huisman, Dennis, 2021. "A self-organizing policy for vehicle dispatching in public transit systems with multiple lines," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 46-64.
    7. Wang, Pengfei & Chen, Xuewu & Zheng, Yue & Cheng, Long & Wang, Yinhai & Lei, Da, 2021. "Providing real-time bus crowding information for passengers: A novel policy to promote high-frequency transit performance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 316-329.
    8. Zhou, Chang & Tian, Qiong & Wang, David Z.W., 2022. "A novel control strategy in mitigating bus bunching: Utilizing real-time information," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-13.
    9. Dai, Zhuang & Liu, Xiaoyue Cathy & Chen, Zhuo & Guo, Renyong & Ma, Xiaolei, 2019. "A predictive headway-based bus-holding strategy with dynamic control point selection: A cooperative game theory approach," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 29-51.
    10. van Lieshout, R.N. & Bouman, P.C. & van den Akker, M. & Huisman, D., 2020. "A Self-Organizing Policy for Vehicle Dispatching in Public Transit Systems with Multiple Lines," Econometric Institute Research Papers EI2020-06, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Economics (ESE), Econometric Institute.
    11. Liang, Shidong & He, Shengxue & Zhang, Hu & Ma, Minghui, 2021. "Optimal holding time calculation algorithm to improve the reliability of high frequency bus route considering the bus capacity constraint," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    12. Qiang, Shengjie & Huang, Qingxia, 2023. "Impacts of bus holding strategies on the performance of mixed traffic system," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 611(C).
    13. Minyu Shen & Weihua Gu & Michael J. Cassidy & Yongjie Lin & Wei Ni, 2024. "A vicious cycle along busy bus corridors and how to abate it," Papers 2403.08230, arXiv.org.
    14. Kuo, Yong-Hong & Leung, Janny M.Y. & Yan, Yimo, 2023. "Public transport for smart cities: Recent innovations and future challenges," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(3), pages 1001-1026.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andres, Matthias & Nair, Rahul, 2017. "A predictive-control framework to address bus bunching," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 123-148.
    2. Li, Shukai & Liu, Ronghui & Yang, Lixing & Gao, Ziyou, 2019. "Robust dynamic bus controls considering delay disturbances and passenger demand uncertainty," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 88-109.
    3. Dai, Zhuang & Liu, Xiaoyue Cathy & Chen, Zhuo & Guo, Renyong & Ma, Xiaolei, 2019. "A predictive headway-based bus-holding strategy with dynamic control point selection: A cooperative game theory approach," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 29-51.
    4. Petit, Antoine & Lei, Chao & Ouyang, Yanfeng, 2019. "Multiline Bus Bunching Control via Vehicle Substitution," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 68-86.
    5. Sánchez-Martínez, G.E. & Koutsopoulos, H.N. & Wilson, N.H.M., 2016. "Real-time holding control for high-frequency transit with dynamics," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 1-19.
    6. Gkiotsalitis, K. & Cats, O., 2021. "At-stop control measures in public transport: Literature review and research agenda," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    7. Minyu Shen & Weihua Gu & Michael J. Cassidy & Yongjie Lin & Wei Ni, 2024. "A vicious cycle along busy bus corridors and how to abate it," Papers 2403.08230, arXiv.org.
    8. Bian, Bomin & Zhu, Ning & Meng, Qiang, 2023. "Real-time cruising speed design approach for multiline bus systems," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 1-24.
    9. Zhou, Chang & Tian, Qiong & Wang, David Z.W., 2022. "A novel control strategy in mitigating bus bunching: Utilizing real-time information," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-13.
    10. Sirmatel, Isik Ilber & Geroliminis, Nikolas, 2018. "Mixed logical dynamical modeling and hybrid model predictive control of public transport operations," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 325-345.
    11. Petit, Antoine & Ouyang, Yanfeng & Lei, Chao, 2018. "Dynamic bus substitution strategy for bunching intervention," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 1-16.
    12. Vismara, Luca & Chew, Lock Yue & Saw, Vee-Liem, 2021. "Optimal assignment of buses to bus stops in a loop by reinforcement learning," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 583(C).
    13. Wu, Weitiao & Liu, Ronghui & Jin, Wenzhou, 2016. "Designing robust schedule coordination scheme for transit networks with safety control margins," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 495-519.
    14. Klumpenhouwer, W. & Wirasinghe, S.C., 2018. "Optimal time point configuration of a bus route - A Markovian approach," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 117(PA), pages 209-227.
    15. Berrebi, Simon J. & Watkins, Kari E. & Laval, Jorge A., 2015. "A real-time bus dispatching policy to minimize passenger wait on a high frequency route," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 377-389.
    16. Berrebi, Simon J. & Crudden, Sean Óg & Watkins, Kari E., 2018. "Translating research to practice: Implementing real-time control on high-frequency transit routes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 213-226.
    17. Gabriel E. Sánchez-Martínez & Nigel H. M. Wilson & Haris N. Koutsopoulos, 2017. "Schedule-free high-frequency transit operations," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 285-305, July.
    18. Federico Malucelli & Emanuele Tresoldi, 2019. "Delay and disruption management in local public transportation via real-time vehicle and crew re-scheduling: a case study," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-25, June.
    19. Chow, Andy H.F. & Li, Shuai & Zhong, Renxin, 2017. "Multi-objective optimal control formulations for bus service reliability with traffic signals," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 248-268.
    20. Wu, Weitiao & Liu, Ronghui & Jin, Wenzhou, 2017. "Modelling bus bunching and holding control with vehicle overtaking and distributed passenger boarding behaviour," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 175-197.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transb:v:110:y:2018:i:c:p:280-301. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/548/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.