Analysis of Schedules for Rural First and Last Mile Microtransit Services

Low and infrequent demand in rural areas poses a problem for public transport providers to run cost-effective services and individual car use is usually the main means of transportation. We investigate how microtransit services can be integrated with existing public transport solutions (bus, train) as a flexible shared mobility alternative in rural areas and how to make them attractive alternatives to individual car use. We combine large neighborhood search with agent-based modeling and simulation to validate generated schedules for a microtransit service in terms of vulnerability to tardiness in passenger behavior or service provision. This includes the study of how disturbances, such as delays in service provision or late arrivals of passengers affect the stability of a transport schedule concerning a reliable timely delivery to transfer stops. We explore how simulation can be utilized as a means to fine-tune provider policies, e.g., how long vehicles may wait for late passengers before they depart.