A two-stage heuristic algorithm for the school bus routing problem with mixed load plan

Abstract

The school bus routing problem (SBRP) seeks to the optimal routes for a fleet of school buses to transport students to schools. To share resources between schools, school bus routing problem with mixed load plan (SBRP-MLP) is proposed in this paper, in which school buses are allowed to pick up students of different schools and deliver them to their schools. This paper presents two modes, SBRP-MLP with virtual stops and SBRP-MLP with interscholastic transportation. To solve the two SBRP-MLPs efficiently, a two-stage heuristic algorithm is developed. The results of several tests suggest that the proposed SBRP-MLP modes take less time than the SBRP with single load plan. Moreover, it was found that the SBRP-MLP with virtual stops is suitable for small-scale cases, while the SBRP-MLP with interscholastic transportation is appropriate for large-scale cases. In addition, the results also indicate that the algorithm is feasible for solving the SBRP-MLP.

Keywords:

• School bus routing problem
• Mixed load plan
• Virtual stops
• Interscholastic transportation
• Two-stage heuristic algorithm

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [51578112, 71571026, and 51208079], the Trans-Century Training Program Foundation for Talents from the Ministry of Education of China [NCET-12-0752], Liaoning Excellent Talents in University LJQ2012045, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [3013-852019].