Analysis on Taxi Operation Using GPS Data and Possibility of Its Efficiency Improvement

Abstract

The taxi system is expected to play an important role, especially in rural areas for an alternative of deficit abolished bus routes and for a kind door-to-door transportation system to aged people. However, it is challenging to keep the taxi service in rural areas; few people want to become taxi drivers because of the lower wages and longer working hours. In that context, it is crucial to increase taxi drivers’ productivity in order to maintain the taxi system in rural areas. In this study, we firstly visualized the taxi service using trajectory GPS data of taxi vehicles in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture and acquired the information contributing to efficient operation. Secondly, a Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows (PDPTW) model was formulated to represent the ideal situation where all reservations have made by the previous days. The optimal number of vehicles and the optimal routes were calculated based on the insertion method, which is one of the heuristic methods. This study further examined the possibility of taxi operational efficiency in the study area.