EVALUATION OF AUTOMATED DISPATCHING FOR FLEXIBLY ROUTED PARATRANSIT SERVICES

Computerized dispatching systems may be appropriate for flexibly routed paratransit systems if they can reduce the cost of vehicle dispatching, improve vehicle productivity, or increase the quality of service provided to riders. This paper compares the performances of computerized, computer-assisted, and manual dispatching based on recent experiences in several systems and analyzes the cost parameters of each under various vehicle, rider, and service-area constraints. Although relative data are too limited to allow major conclusions about the cost or effectiveness of different dispatching processes in varying environments, it is concluded that automated dispatching appears to be more expensive than manual dispatching for the present scale of shared-ride, flexibly routed services. However, it is also noted that improvements in the cost, capability, and flexibility of new computers, as well as the growing need for extensive rider and trip-information processing, will be important factors in the future. (Author)

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr186/sr186-008.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0360859X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appeared in TRB publication Special Report No. 186: Paratransit, 1979.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Hendrickson, Chris
• Conference:
  • Workshop on Paratransit
  • Location: Williamsburg Virginia, United States
  • Date: 1979-2-11 to 1979-2-14
• Publication Date: 1979

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 56-62
• Monograph Title: PARATRANSIT: 1979. PROCEEDINGS OF A WORKSHOP
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 186
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0360-859X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Advanced driver information systems; Advanced driver information systems; Costs; Dispatching; Evaluation; Flexibility; Paratransit services; Productivity; Quality of service; Routing
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00303919
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Apr 22 1981 12:00AM