Supporting Planning and Operation Time Control in Transportation Systems

Providers of public transportation systems, like airlines and railway companies, are usually faced with a complex planning and control process consisting of several phases, like demand estimation, timetable construction, resource allocation, e.g., for vehicles and crews, and operation time control. The control phase includes rescheduling of connections according to corporate rules and resource reallocation. We discuss computer-based decision support systems capable of supporting such processes. Especially, the case of integrated planning and control phases for railway passenger traffic will be presented: The integrated system being developed involves techniques, like optimisation, simulation, and knowledge-based components as well as common user interface and object-oriented architecture. Results of the planning phase are forwarded to operation time control. Components developed to support the control phase can be used to improve planning quality by what-if analyses.