Incremental optimization design of transit service

An interactive design procedure for the incremental optimization of transit route service is developed based on the concept of elasticity and the total differential. The purpose of this method is to find the set of optimum fare and frequency changes that management can incrementally implement through time to achieve a certain objective under given constraints. The method is applied to a Twin Cities commuter route, illustrating the selection of the optimum set of policy changes. The transit performance map, a major product of the incremental optimization method, can provide important information about the system behavior. Using this map, the transit manager can determine the forecast optimum route performance through time as well as the optimum scheduling and pricing policies needed to reach the desired performance level. Each optimization session lasts 2-3 min on an IBM-PC.