Operational planning of public transit with economic and environmental goals: application to the Minneapolis–St. Paul bus system

Bixuan Sun; Jeffrey Apland

doi:10.1007/s12469-019-00199-9

Operational planning of public transit with economic and environmental goals: application to the Minneapolis–St. Paul bus system

Bixuan Sun, Jeffrey Apland

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study develops a framework to optimize bus assignments and operating practices to routes considering both operating costs and environmental goals. The mixed-integer programming model is applied to the Metro Transit bus system in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. The model is used to derive representative solutions on the efficient frontiers between operating costs and emissions, and to demonstrate how economic factors such as fuel cost and service level affect the trade-offs between costs and environmental outcomes. An analysis of fleet composition shows that vehicle assignments can significantly affect the cost and emission performance of the fleet. We then use the model to evaluate the actual bus assignment schedule used by Metro Transit, and provide suggestions on how to reduce operating costs and emissions. The model is useful in supporting strategic decisions such as vehicle replacement and purchase, as well as operational planning.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	237-267
Number of pages	31
Journal	Public Transport
Volume	11
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12469-019-00199-9
State	Published - Aug 1 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work is part of the project “Enabling the Next Generation of Super Hybrid Transit Bus”, which was jointly funded by the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (Grant number RL-0013-13) and the Center for Transportation Studies, both at University of Minnesota, and Metro Transit—the public transportation operator in the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Area. We would like to thank Janet Hopper, David Haas and Chuck Wurzinger at Metro Transit for providing extensive datasets. We are also very grateful for the advice and assistance from Steven Taff, William Northrop, David Kittelson, Win Watts, Andrew Kotz, Shashank Singh and Kieran McCabe at the University of Minnesota, and the anonymous reviewers.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

Environmental impacts
Mixed-integer programming
Multi-criteria optimization
Operating costs
Operational planning
Transportation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access

10.1007/s12469-019-00199-9

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

@article{8882fdbfa7914d0a8442a6ed8fb799ed,

title = "Operational planning of public transit with economic and environmental goals: application to the Minneapolis–St. Paul bus system",

abstract = "This study develops a framework to optimize bus assignments and operating practices to routes considering both operating costs and environmental goals. The mixed-integer programming model is applied to the Metro Transit bus system in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. The model is used to derive representative solutions on the efficient frontiers between operating costs and emissions, and to demonstrate how economic factors such as fuel cost and service level affect the trade-offs between costs and environmental outcomes. An analysis of fleet composition shows that vehicle assignments can significantly affect the cost and emission performance of the fleet. We then use the model to evaluate the actual bus assignment schedule used by Metro Transit, and provide suggestions on how to reduce operating costs and emissions. The model is useful in supporting strategic decisions such as vehicle replacement and purchase, as well as operational planning.",

keywords = "Environmental impacts, Mixed-integer programming, Multi-criteria optimization, Operating costs, Operational planning, Transportation",

author = "Bixuan Sun and Jeffrey Apland",

note = "Funding Information: This work is part of the project “Enabling the Next Generation of Super Hybrid Transit Bus”, which was jointly funded by the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (Grant number RL-0013-13) and the Center for Transportation Studies, both at University of Minnesota, and Metro Transit—the public transportation operator in the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Area. We would like to thank Janet Hopper, David Haas and Chuck Wurzinger at Metro Transit for providing extensive datasets. We are also very grateful for the advice and assistance from Steven Taff, William Northrop, David Kittelson, Win Watts, Andrew Kotz, Shashank Singh and Kieran McCabe at the University of Minnesota, and the anonymous reviewers. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.",

year = "2019",

month = aug,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1007/s12469-019-00199-9",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "11",

pages = "237--267",

journal = "Public Transport",

issn = "1866-749X",

publisher = "Springer Verlag",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Operational planning of public transit with economic and environmental goals

T2 - application to the Minneapolis–St. Paul bus system

AU - Sun, Bixuan

AU - Apland, Jeffrey

N1 - Funding Information: This work is part of the project “Enabling the Next Generation of Super Hybrid Transit Bus”, which was jointly funded by the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (Grant number RL-0013-13) and the Center for Transportation Studies, both at University of Minnesota, and Metro Transit—the public transportation operator in the Minneapolis–St. Paul Metropolitan Area. We would like to thank Janet Hopper, David Haas and Chuck Wurzinger at Metro Transit for providing extensive datasets. We are also very grateful for the advice and assistance from Steven Taff, William Northrop, David Kittelson, Win Watts, Andrew Kotz, Shashank Singh and Kieran McCabe at the University of Minnesota, and the anonymous reviewers. Publisher Copyright: © 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

PY - 2019/8/1

Y1 - 2019/8/1

N2 - This study develops a framework to optimize bus assignments and operating practices to routes considering both operating costs and environmental goals. The mixed-integer programming model is applied to the Metro Transit bus system in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. The model is used to derive representative solutions on the efficient frontiers between operating costs and emissions, and to demonstrate how economic factors such as fuel cost and service level affect the trade-offs between costs and environmental outcomes. An analysis of fleet composition shows that vehicle assignments can significantly affect the cost and emission performance of the fleet. We then use the model to evaluate the actual bus assignment schedule used by Metro Transit, and provide suggestions on how to reduce operating costs and emissions. The model is useful in supporting strategic decisions such as vehicle replacement and purchase, as well as operational planning.

AB - This study develops a framework to optimize bus assignments and operating practices to routes considering both operating costs and environmental goals. The mixed-integer programming model is applied to the Metro Transit bus system in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. The model is used to derive representative solutions on the efficient frontiers between operating costs and emissions, and to demonstrate how economic factors such as fuel cost and service level affect the trade-offs between costs and environmental outcomes. An analysis of fleet composition shows that vehicle assignments can significantly affect the cost and emission performance of the fleet. We then use the model to evaluate the actual bus assignment schedule used by Metro Transit, and provide suggestions on how to reduce operating costs and emissions. The model is useful in supporting strategic decisions such as vehicle replacement and purchase, as well as operational planning.

KW - Environmental impacts

KW - Mixed-integer programming

KW - Multi-criteria optimization

KW - Operating costs

KW - Operational planning

KW - Transportation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85072171594&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85072171594&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s12469-019-00199-9

DO - 10.1007/s12469-019-00199-9

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85072171594

SN - 1866-749X

VL - 11

SP - 237

EP - 267

JO - Public Transport

JF - Public Transport

IS - 2

ER -

Operational planning of public transit with economic and environmental goals: application to the Minneapolis–St. Paul bus system

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access

OpenUrl availability

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this