PT (public transport) in Germany is of major importance for the quality of life of individuals as well as the productivity of entire regions. Quality and efficiency of PT systems depend on the political framework and the suitability of the infrastructure, the existing level of service, the use of adequate technologies, and the best possible deployment of equipment and resources. The decision, planning, and optimisation problems arising are often gigantic and scream for mathematical support because of their complexity. This article sketches the state and the relevance of mathematics in planning and operating public transit, describes today's challenges, and suggests a number of innovative actions. The current contribution of mathematics to public transit is of varying depth. Air traffic is already well supported by mathematics. Bus traffic made significant advances in recent years, while rail traffic still bears significant opportunities for improvements. In all areas of public transit, the existing potentials are far from being exhausted. For some PT problems, such as vehicle and crew scheduling in bus and air traffic, excellent mathematical tools are not only available, but used in many places. In other areas, such as rolling stock rostering in rail traffic, the performance of the existing mathematical algorithms is not yet sufficient. Some topics are essentially untouched from a mathematical point of view. PT infrastructure construction is essentially devoid of mathematics, even though enormous capital investments are made in this area. These problems lead to questions that can only be tackled by engineers, economists, politicians, and mathematicians in a joint effort.
Planning problems in public transit
2009
30 Seiten, 8 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 38 Quellen
Report
Englisch
Planning problems in public transit
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