The Station Location Problem of Public Bicycle Systems with the Demand Depending on Access Distance

抄録

Given rising awareness of environmental sustainability, promoting green transportation has been a well-recognized policy of many governments. This study focuses on the public bicycle system (PBS), a global trend with numerous implementations in many cities. As a crucial decision for the planning of a PBS project, the station location problem of this study determines the number, location, and size of the stations to maximize the profit of the operator, by considering the facility cost and the revenue collected from serving bike users. In particular, the study has considered demand variability affected by access distance, which is subject to the station location decision. A solution method based on the genetic algorithm (GA) has been developed to handle practical-scale problems. In order to validate the developed model and solution algorithm, a numerical experiment has been performed. It has affirmed that this study can provide appropriate decision support to PBS planners.