Integrated Bicycle and Public Transit Routing for InnaMoRuhr

The goal of the InnaMoRuhr research project is the development of an integrated and sustainable mobility concept for the University Alliance Ruhr. To support the field trials of the project that are scheduled to take place in 2022 and 2023, we have been developing a web-based application that matches the available mobility options with the specific needs of university employees and students living and working in the Ruhr area. From a technical perspective, our application resembles an integrated and highly configurable multi-modal route planner that highlights the environmental impact of possible route choices. In the context of InnaMoRuhr, integrating ubiquitous bike sharing services, such as “metropolradruhr”, with the public transportation network operated by the members of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) is especially promising, since it enables travelers to cover large distances with public transportation while replacing potentially time-consuming walks or infrequent connections to remote trip destinations with short rides on inexpensive and emission-free rental bikes. In this paper, we discuss our approach for integrating bicycle and public transit routing. Thereby, we develop a model for trips between rental stations and we extend the RAPTOR algorithm for public transit routing such that it can leverage the model to efficiently compute optimal multi-modal alternatives. To validate the integration, we discuss different scenarios computed using the resulting system that demon-strate the potential to reduce the trip duration without causing additional emissions.