Methodology of Feeder Bus Timetable Optimization Based on Bike-Sharing and Express Bus Line

The optimization of the feeder bus timetable is crucial for improving the service level of the rail transit feeder system. It is considered that residents have three feeder travel modes to choose from in the rail transit feeder service, which are feeder regular bus line, feeder express bus line and bike-sharing. With the objective of minimizing the feeder user cost of the three feeder modes, a feeder bus timetable optimization model is proposed. This model takes into account the constraints of bus line headway, bus line frequency and bus vehicle capacity. A GA-VNS algorithm with a variable neighborhood search strategy is proposed to solve the developed model. The algorithm coding design and the design of the variable neighborhood search operator are provided. The proposed approach is analyzed from the perspectives of efficiency and optimality using a numerical example. The sensitivity analysis results show that the maximum supply of feeder express bus lines should be set appropriately.