Title: Waiting strategies for the dynamic dial-a-ride problem

Authors: C.W. Yuen, K.I. Wong, Anthony F. Han

Addresses: Department of Transportation Technology and Management, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta Hsueh Road, Hsinchu, 30010, Taiwan. ' Department of Transportation Technology and Management, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta Hsueh Road, Hsinchu, 30010, Taiwan. ' Department of Transportation Technology and Management, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta Hsueh Road, Hsinchu, 30010, Taiwan

Abstract: The dial-a-ride service is a form of demand responsive transport that delivers passenger requests from their specified origins to destinations with desired time windows. It is usually used as a mean to provide transport for people who are not able to access a private transportation conveniently, or as a transport policy to encourage share rides and reduce driving. In this study, the authors consider the dynamic problem, which receives real-time requests during the day of operation. In the scheduling of the services, there may exist waiting for vehicles along the route at stops. This paper proposes three waiting strategies, namely, drive first (DF), wait first (WF) and modified dynamic wait (MDW), to allocate this waiting time along the stops by holding the vehicles so as to minimise the cost in accepting future calls. Simulation experiments show that the MDW is superior to DF and WF.

Keywords: dial-a-ride problem; DARP; degree of dynamism; waiting strategies; demand responsive transport; vehicle scheduling; waiting time allocation; simulation; sustainable transport; local journeys; sustainable development; sustainability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2009.024634

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2009 Vol.8 No.3/4, pp.314 - 329

Published online: 13 Apr 2009 *

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