Transport

OR contributes significantly to the design, planning and operation of transport systems. Scientific challenges arise from the many frequently conflicting objectives which arise, including:

• Minimising running costs
• Reducing customer waiting times
• Mitigating environmental impact.

All of these goals will be present, for example, in the design of a train timetable, along with others that are more problem-specific, like the desirability of a regular service with departures and arrivals scheduled for the same time each hour. The use of well-established search techniques running on fast computers now makes the design of high quality timetables a reality. OR is also making contributions to areas such as:

• Rostering or crew scheduling: the efficient use of personnel reduces costs whilst increasing customer and employee satisfaction.
• Revenue management: the setting of prices for tickets to maximise revenue is a major issue for airlines, train and bus operators, and is an area where OR has an established and fundamental role.

Future challenges include:

• Design and optimal operation of responsive systems including, for example, the variable routing of buses in response to journey requests.
• Development of sophisticated decision support systems for routing which can, for example, avoid congested areas.
• Analysis of yield management schemes for the pricing of tickets which take account of the actions of competitors, auctions and other electronic markets for buying and selling transport services.
• Increasing the integration and cooperation between components of an airport so as to reduce ground waiting times and engine running times, increasing customer satisfaction and reducing pollution.
Successfully addressing these challenges will drastically change and improve the way in which transport systems function.

related resources:

	LANCS Initiative
	Healthcare
	Green Logistics
»	Transport
	Building the theory for the practice

other projects:

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