Real-world Meeting Points for Shared Demand-Responsive Transportation Systems

• Main Authors: Czioska, Paul, Kutadinata, Ronny, Trifunović, Aleksandar, Winter, Stephan, Sester, Monika, Friedrich, Bernhard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 21-09-2017
• Subjects: Physics - Physics and Society
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1709.08488

While conventional shared demand-responsive transportation (SDRT) systems
mostly operate on a door-to-door policy, the usage of meeting points for the
pick-up and drop-off of user groups can offer several advantages, like fewer
stops and less total travelled mileage. Moreover, it offers the possibility to
select only feasible and well-defined locations where a safe (de-)boarding is
possible. This paper presents a three-step workflow for solving the SDRT
problem with meeting points (SDRT-MP). Firstly, the customers are clustered
into similar groups, then meeting (and divergence) points are determined for
each cluster. Finally, a parallel neighbourhood search algorithm is applied to
create the vehicle routes. Further, a simulation with realistic pick-up and
drop-off locations based on map data is performed in order to demonstrate the
impact of using meeting points for SDRT systems in contrast to the door-to-door
service. Although the average passenger travel time is higher due to enhanced
walking and waiting times, the experiment highlights a reduction of operator
resources required to serve all customers.