Optimal route network design for transit systems using genetic algorithms

The paper proposes a technique for the development of ‘optimal’ transit route networks (for example, a bus route network) given the information on link travel times and transit demand. The proposed method, unlike previous techniques, primarily uses optimization tools for the development of the transit route network – the reliance on heuristics is minimal. In the proposed method, genetic algorithms, an evolutionary optimization technique, are used to develop the ‘optimal’ set of routes. Results show that the proposed procedure performs better than the existing techniques.