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Formulating a New Express Minibus Service Design Problem as a Clustering Problem

Author

Listed:
  • L. Miguel Martínez

    (Center for Urban and Regional Systems, Department of Civil Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • José Manuel Viegas

    (Center for Urban and Regional Systems, Department of Civil Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Tomás Eiró

    (Center for Urban and Regional Systems, Department of Civil Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal)

Abstract

This paper presents the formulation of a new optimization problem designated as the express minibus problem, which intends to form small groups of clients with compatible boarding/exiting points in time and space for a new type of urban mobility service. This new transport option, as a competitive alternative to the private car, aims to provide almost direct services between dispersed demand poles in places where high-capacity and efficient public transport options are scarce, thus combining the major strengths of both public transport and private vehicles. Conventional public transport systems can present efficient space and energy consumption, whereas private vehicles have high levels of flexibility, are fast, and are always available.The proposed algorithm aims at assessing the potential demand of this new service by developing a clustering algorithm in which the groups of clients formed for each minibus route should present the following characteristics: there is a small number of boarding and exiting points, where in each point there is only boarding or alighting; boarding points should be close to each other, as well as the exiting points; there must be a reasonable distance between the last boarding point and the first exiting point; the average load factor must be high; and for all clients the overall detour time relative to the direct service should be small.This paper presents the rationale and structure of the clustering algorithm, followed by an application for the Lisbon metropolitan area during the morning peak, which could be adapted to the afternoon peak with some slight modifications.

Suggested Citation

  • L. Miguel Martínez & José Manuel Viegas & Tomás Eiró, 2015. "Formulating a New Express Minibus Service Design Problem as a Clustering Problem," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(1), pages 85-98, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ortrsc:v:49:y:2015:i:1:p:85-98
    DOI: 10.1287/trsc.2013.0497
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Luis Ferreira & Phil Charles & Clara Tether, 2007. "Evaluating Flexible Transport Solutions," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2-3), pages 249-269.
    2. Diana, Marco & Dessouky, Maged M., 2004. "A new regret insertion heuristic for solving large-scale dial-a-ride problems with time windows," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 539-557, July.
    3. Brake, Jenny & Mulley, Corinne & Nelson, John D. & Wright, Steve, 2007. "Key lessons learned from recent experience with Flexible Transport Services," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 458-466, November.
    4. Konstantinos Zografos & Konstantinos Androutsopoulos & Teemu Sihvola, 2008. "A methodological approach for developing and assessing business models for flexible transport systems," Transportation, Springer, vol. 35(6), pages 777-795, November.
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    Cited by:

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