Designing bus route networks with algorithms

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to make use of real world travel time and demand data and implement an algorithm which designs bus networks. Consideration is taken to both passenger and bus operator interests. Thereafter answering the questions: How well does the algorithm perform when applied to Södertälje, Sweden? Can the proposed method assist in the network design stage of real bus network planning? Heuristics and the multiobjective genetic algorithm NSGA-II (Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II) were chosen. Three different problem cases were set up. It was found that the high computation time poses a great obstacle, over 80 hours for a network of 58 stations and 18 routes. Even then a longer run time would have led to improved results. When comparing a smaller problem, 24 stations and four routes, to the real bus routes it is based on, a superior solution was found based on the model. It is however not possible to argue for the proposed network being superior to the existing one if replaced in reality due to the fact a subsystem is modelled. It is believed that the proposed algorithm may be of assistance to traffic planners in the way of suggesting single links or routes, not replacing the complete bus network design process.