A simulation - Based optimization for bus route design problem

Bus transportation is one of the most common public transportation modes and attracts higher travel demand levels to residents' daily life. The raising public awareness and concerns about traffic congestion and environmental pollution has created an increased need for an effective bus route design. In this paper, a simulation - based optimization model is developed to routing and scheduling buses for a university campus located in Vietnam. This proposed model takes in account the stochastic factors such as student and staff demand, bus capacities, and arrival time with an aim to find the optimal routes and the number of buses needed to complete travel within allowance time. The resulting model shows that the bus network can satisfy dynamic demand and effectively shorten distance.