18,429 research outputs found
Analysis and operational challenges of dynamic ride sharing demand responsive transportation models
There is a wide body of evidence that suggests sustainable mobility is not only a technological question, but that automotive technology will be a part of the solution in becoming a necessary albeit insufficient condition. Sufficiency is emerging as a paradigm shift from car ownership to vehicle usage, which is a consequence of socio-economic changes. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) now make it possible for a user to access a mobility service to go anywhere at any time. Among the many emerging mobility services, Multiple Passenger Ridesharing and its variants look the most promising. However, challenges arise in implementing these systems while accounting specifically for time dependencies and time windows that reflect usersâ needs, specifically in terms of real-time fleet dispatching and dynamic route calculation. On the other hand, we must consider the feasibility and impact analysis of the many factors influencing the behavior of the system â as, for example, service demand, the size of the service fleet, the capacity of the shared vehicles and whether the time window requirements are soft or tight. This paper analyzes - a Decision Support System that computes solutions with ad hoc heuristics applied to variants of Pick Up and Delivery Problems with Time Windows, as well as to Feasibility and Profitability criteria rooted in Dynamic Insertion Heuristics. To evaluate the applications, a Simulation Framework is proposed. It is based on a microscopic simulation model that emulates real-time traffic conditions and a real traffic information system. It also interacts with the Decision Support System by feeding it with the required data for making decisions in the simulation that emulate the behavior of the shared fleet. The proposed simulation framework has been implemented in a model of Barcelonaâs Central Business District. The obtained results prove the potential feasibility of the mobility concept.Postprint (published version
Non-linear integer programming fleet assignment model
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and
the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the
degree of Master of Science in Engineering.
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016Given a flight schedule with fixed departure times and cost, solving the fleet
assignment problem assists airlines to find the minimum cost or maximum
revenue assignment of aircraft types to flights. The result is that each flight is
covered exactly once by an aircraft and the assignment can be flown using the
available number of aircraft of each fleet type.
This research proposes a novel, non-linear integer programming fleet assignment
model which differs from the linear time-space multi-commodity network
fleet assignment model which is commonly used in industry. The performance
of the proposed model with respect to the amount of time it takes to create a
flight schedule is measured. Similarly, the performance of the time-space multicommodity
fleet assignment model is also measured. The objective function
from both mathematical models is then compared and results reported.
Due to the non-linearity of the proposed model, a genetic algorithm (GA)
is used to find a solution. The time taken by the GA is slow. The objective
function value, however, is the same as that obtained using the time-space
multi-commodity network flow model.
The proposed mathematical model has advantages in that the solution is
easier to interpret. It also simultaneously solves fleet assignment as well as
individual aircraft routing. The result may therefore aid in integrating more
airline planning decisions such as maintenance routing.MT201
Recommended from our members
Integrating the fleet assignment model with uncertain demand
This thesis was submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.One of the main challenges facing the airline industry is planning under uncertainty, especially in the context of schedule disruptions. The robust models and solution algorithms that have been proposed and developed to handle the uncertain parameters will be discussed. Fleet assignment models (FAM) are used by many airlines to assign aircraft to fights in a schedule to maximize profit. In the context of FAM, the goal of robustness is to produce solutions that perform well relative to uncertainties in demand and operation. In this thesis, we introduce new FAMs (i.e. DFAM1 and DFAM2) that tackles the common problem associated with aircraft utilization. Subsequently, stochastic programming (SP) is presented as a method of choice for the research. Through the use of a two-stage SP with recourse technique, the DFAMs are extended to SP-FAMs (SP-FAM1 and SP-FAM2). The main distinction of the SP-FAM compared with other FAMs is that, given a stochastic passenger demand, it gives a strategic fleet assignment solution that hedges against all possible tactical solutions. In addition, we have a tactical solution for every scenario. In generating the demand scenarios, we use a network-simulation model embedded with a time-series engine that gives a snapshot of one week that is representative of any other week of the scheduling season. We later outline the approach of solving the SP-FAMs where the schedule is compacted through several preprocessing steps before inputting it into SAS-AMPL converter. The SAS-AMPL converter prepares all the data into readable AMPL format. Finally, we execute the optimizer using a FortMP solver (integrated in AMPL) that invokes branch-and-bound algorithm. We give a proof of concept using real data from a Middle East airline. Our investigations establish clear benefits of the recourse FAM compared to alternative models. Finally, we propose areas of future research to improve SP-FAM robustness through solution algorithms, revenue management (RM) effects, calibration of network-simulation models and system integration
Air Taxi Skyport Location Problem for Airport Access
Witnessing the rapid progress and accelerated commercialization made in
recent years for the introduction of air taxi services in near future across
metropolitan cities, our research focuses on one of the most important
consideration for such services, i.e., infrastructure planning (also known as
skyports). We consider design of skyport locations for air taxis accessing
airports, where we present the skyport location problem as a modified
single-allocation p-hub median location problem integrating choice-constrained
user mode choice behavior into the decision process. Our approach focuses on
two alternative objectives i.e., maximizing air taxi ridership and maximizing
air taxi revenue. The proposed models in the study incorporate trade-offs
between trip length and trip cost based on mode choice behavior of travelers to
determine optimal choices of skyports in an urban city. We examine the
sensitivity of skyport locations based on two objectives, three air taxi
pricing strategies, and varying transfer times at skyports. A case study of New
York City is conducted considering a network of 149 taxi zones and 3 airports
with over 20 million for-hire-vehicles trip data to the airports to discuss
insights around the choice of skyport locations in the city, and demand
allocation to different skyports under various parameter settings. Results
suggest that a minimum of 9 skyports located between Manhattan, Queens and
Brooklyn can adequately accommodate the airport access travel needs and are
sufficiently stable against transfer time increases. Findings from this study
can help air taxi providers strategize infrastructure design options and
investment decisions based on skyport location choices.Comment: 25 page
Integrated robust airline schedule development
In air transportation, airline profitability is influenced by the airline's ability to build flight schedules. In order to generate operational schedules, airlines engage in a complex decision-making process, referred to as airline schedule planning. Up to now, the generation of flight schedules has been separated and optimized sequentially. The schedule design has been traditionally decomposed into two sequential steps. The frequency planning and the timetable development. The purpose of the second problem of schedule development, fleet assignment, is to assign available aircraft types to flight legs such that seating capacity on an assigned aircraft matches closely with flight demand and such that costs are minimized. Our work integrates these planning phases into one single model in order to produce more economical solutions and create fewer incompatibilities between the decisions. We propose an integrated robust approach for the schedule development step. We design the timetable ensuring that enough time is available to perform passengersâ flight connections, making the system robust avoiding misconnected passengers. An application of the model for a simplified IBERIA network is shown
Cost/benefit trade-offs for reducing the energy consumption of commercial air transportation (RECAT)
A study has been performed to evaluate the opportunities for reducing the energy requirements of the U.S. domestic air passenger transport system through improved operational techniques, modified in-service aircraft, derivatives of current production models, or new aircraft using either current or advanced technology. Each of the fuel-conserving alternatives has been investigated individually to test its potential for fuel conservation relative to a hypothetical baseline case in which current, in-production aircraft types are assumed to operate, without modification and with current operational techniques, into the future out to the year 2000
Optimising airline maintenance scheduling decisions
Airline maintenance scheduling (AMS) studies how plans or schedules are constructed to ensure that a fleet is efficiently maintained and that airline operational demands are met. Additionally, such schedules must take into consideration the different regulations airlines are subject to, while minimising maintenance costs. In this thesis, we study different formulations, solution methods, and modelling considerations, for the AMS and related problems to propose two main contributions. First, we present a new type of multi-objective mixed integer linear programming formulation which challenges traditional time discretisation. Employing the concept of time intervals, we efficiently model the airline maintenance scheduling problem with tail assignment considerations. With a focus on workshop resource allocation and individual aircraft flight operations, and the use of a custom iterative algorithm, we solve large and long-term real-world instances (16000 flights, 529 aircraft, 8 maintenance workshops) in reasonable computational time. Moreover, we provide evidence to suggest, that our framework provides near-optimal solutions, and that inter-airline cooperation is beneficial for workshops. Second, we propose a new hybrid solution procedure to solve the aircraft recovery problem. Here, we study how to re-schedule flights and re-assign aircraft to these, to resume airline operations after an unforeseen disruption. We do so while taking operational restrictions into account. Specifically, restrictions on aircraft, maintenance, crew duty, and passenger delay are accounted for. The flexibility of the approach allows for further operational restrictions to be easily introduced. The hybrid solution procedure involves the combination of column generation with learning-based hyperheuristics. The latter, adaptively selects exact or metaheuristic algorithms to generate columns. The five different algorithms implemented, two of which we developed, were collected and released as a Python package (Torres Sanchez, 2020). Findings suggest that the framework produces fast and insightful recovery solutions
- âŠ