An approach for identifying optimal service for rural bus routes

• A simulation model to identify optimal service headway, fleet size, and fare for rural bus service.
• Due consideration to user costs and operational viability.
• Use of generalized cost as a comprehensive measure of user costs.
• Effect of route length and demand on optimal solution.
• Influence of route and demand characteristics on optimal fare model.

An approach is demonstrated for identifying optimal bus service giving due considerations to both user costs and operational viability. The effects of demand level and route length on optimal service attributes are also investigated. A model is developed for simulating passenger movements and identifying the optimal service attributes for a demand level. The model is applied for different hypothetical scenarios in order to understand the variation of the optimal attributes with demand and route characteristics. The results indicate the influence of route characteristics, demand level, user costs, required cut-off revenue, etc. on the optimal bus service attributes. The findings from the present work related to fare model indicates that it is necessary to give due considerations to the demand and its distribution as well as length of different routes while recommending an optimal fare model for all the routes in a geographic region. The findings from the present work encourage further investigation on the effect of demand pattern on optimal bus service and selection of an optimal fare model for all routes in a geographic region.