Optimization of Public Traffic Network Based on Comfort Improvement

In order to mitigate the crowding in buses and make passengers more comfortable, an optimization method is proposed based on the OD information of bus stations. An optimization model was developed with the goal of maximizing the average passenger comfort. The maximum route length and number of transfers were also taken into account. The comfort was calculated using a membership function, and the relationship between the comfort and number of passengers was plotted to illustrate the rationality of the optimization method. Routes with poor comfort were optimized one by one from low to high comforting levels by exchanging routes and sharing passengers between adjacent lines. The goal was to balance the passenger flows to equalize the utilization of different buses by adjusting routes. An example was used to confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of this optimization method. The comfort standard deviation between stations on a crowded line decreased from 0.24 to 0.09 after the optimization. The passenger flow imbalance between stations was obviously improved. The average passenger comfort increased from 0.84 to 0.91 (8.3%).