Optimizing Waiting Time in Urban Public Transportation System Using Simulation Approach (Case Study: Isfahan Bus Company)

Public transportation system plays an important role in economic growth and urban development, including reducing transportation costs and increasing efficiency. To increase the share of public transportation systems in urban travel, measures need to be taken to improve their management and increase their efficiency. In this regard, the most important step in planning for this area is to revise or redefine the routes of the network lines. This process is known as a strategic step in managing long-term programs for the network. Given the growing trend of urbanization in large cities and the need for reliable and efficient public transportation, optimizing and improving the performance of public transportation networks is of great importance. Efficient planning and operation of transportation systems require accurate estimation of passenger waiting times. In this article, using a queuing system, simulation and optimization of urban public transportation system have been investigated with a case study of the Isfahan Bus Company in order to reduce waiting times at bus stops. In this study, first, the current performance of Isfahan's public transportation network was examined using simulation, and then by making changes to the network and various parameters, optimal solutions for reducing waiting times were proposed. The results of the simulation of Isfahan's bus transportation system show that significant improvements in the performance of the public transportation network can be achieved by making corrective changes to the structure and scheduling of the buses.