Interactive Operations Research

Transit Network Design

Transit route planning is a multifaceted process involving strategic decisions such as selecting bus stop locations, determining design headways, generating bus trips and ultimately bus blocks. The practice of transit network planning often remains cumbersome and manual, largely due to the gap between theoretical frameworks and practical applications. Existing transit planning software, while intuitive and attractive, frequently overlook the rich insights provided by transportation theory, such as the four-step model, resulting in a disconnect between research and application.

TransNet-Pro is a transit network planning and analysis tool that integrates the comprehensive four-step model of trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice, and route assignment into the transit planning process on a web-based platform. This integration not only streamlines planning efforts but also ensures that decisions are grounded in empirical evidence and theoretical insights, thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of public transportation systems.

The video first shows the balance of origins and destination. The stop locations are selected by clicking and drag-dropping, and the fleet properties (number and capacity of buses) are adjusted at the left panel. The thickness of the route (red line) represents the crowdedness of that segment, which changes with fleet size and bus capacity. The red circles represent the number of waiting passengers, and the blue ones are the moving buses.  The results are presented at the bottom left corner and animated on the map as well.

Transit Fleet Electrification

Transit fleet electrification is a three-sided problem as it requires 1- Finding the best charger locations, 2- Optimizing the charging schedule, and 3- Selecting the ideal electric bus type. GreenTrans-Pro is a platform that maximizes the number of electrified buses while optimizing their en-route charging schedule subject to operational constraints, such as the limited number of outlets at each station, battery capacity, minimum safety charge, and allowable layover times for charging. The tool summarizes fleet performance, charging profiles at each station, and the charging schedule for each bus.