Investigating Optimal Bus Routes. Planning and Operation in Urban Areas

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2015 in the subject Transportation Science & Technology, , course: Transit planning, language: English, abstract: Transit route Network Design Problem (TrNDP) is the most important component in Transit planning, in which the overall cost of the public transportation system highly depends on it. The main purpose of this study is to develop a novel solution methodology for the TrNDP, which goes beyond pervious traditional sophisticated approaches. The novelty of the solution methodology, adopted in this studyr, stands on the deterministic operators which are tackled to construct bus routes. The deterministic manner of the TrNDP solution relies on using linear and integer mathematical formulations that can be solved exactly with their standard solvers. The solution methodology has been tested through Mandl's benchmark network problem. The test results showed that the methodology developed in this research is able to improve the given network solution in terms of number of constructed routes, direct transit service coverage, transfer directness and solution reliability. Although the set of routes resulted from the methodology would stand alone as a final efficient solution for TrNDP, it could be used as an initial solution for meta-heuristic procedures to approach global optimal. Based on the presented methodology, a more robust network optimization tool would be produced for public transportation planning purposes.

1- Status: Name : Dr. Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed Owais Profession: Assistant Professor, Civil Dep. , Faculty of Eng. Assiut Univ. Nationality: Egyptian Date of Birth: 1st October, 1987 Mobile: +201003367388 College Fax: 022 088 2332553 2- Key Qualification: Extensive Experience in Transportation Planning: 1. B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt July, 2009 2. M.Sc. in Transportation Planning, Dep. of Civil Engineering, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt, Oct. 2011 3. Ph.D in Transportation Planning, Dep. of Civil Engineering, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt, Oct. 2014 3- Academic Posts: 1. 2009 - 2011 Demonstrator, Civil Engineering Dept., Assiut University, (A.R.E). 2. 2011 - 2014, Assistant lecturer Civil Engineering Assiut University, (A.R.E). 3. 2014 - up till - date, Assistant Professor Civil Engineering Assiut University, (A.R.E). 4- Experience Record: 1. Helping teaching under graduate courses in Transportation planning, Traffic Engineering Highways Engineering, Computer Applications in Civil Engineering, Highways and Traffic Engineering Eng. B.Sc. Projects. 2. Instructor at Education Development Center, Faculty of Engineering, Assiut University. 5- Main Research Interest areas: - Public Transportation -Combinatorial Optimization - Heuristics and Meta-heuristics - Transportation data modeling and simulation - Traffic Engineering Operation Management & Control - Geographic Information Systems - Traffic Micro-Simulation 6- Languages & Computer skills: TOEFL IBT with score 550 May 2012 ICDL Certification Expert in Transcad Having a good knowledge on Matlab, Vissim, Autoturn, and Primavera 8- Publications: -Owais, M., et al. (2014). "Simple and Effective Solution Methodology for Transit Network Design Problem." International Journal of Computer Applications 89(14): 32-40. -Owais, M. and G. Moussa (2014). "A Novel Solution Methodology for Transit Route Network Design Problem." International Journal of Civil, Architectural Science and Engineering 8(3): 658-665. -Owais, M., et al. (2013). "OPTIMAL FREQUENCY SETTING FOR CIRCULAR BUS ROUTES IN URBAN AREAS." Journal of Engineering Science 41(5): 1796 - 1811. -Owais, M. (2011). "Evaluation and Analysis of Urban Passengers Transport Modes Operation Performance and Efficiency."Journal of Engineering Science 39: 111-121.