Exploring the potential resource integration under passenger-freight shared mobility: collaborative optimization of multi-type bus scheduling and dynamic vehicle capacity allocation for urban-rural bus routes

Under the global background of developing urban-rural travel patterns, traditional urban-rural public transport systems are generally faced with the serious challenges of passenger loss and operating deficit, leading to a reduction in the bus frequency and service reliability. In order to break the vicious circle of demand decline-supply shrinkage, passenger-freight shared mobility (PFSM), an innovative operation mode, can achieve synergies between urban-rural logistics and public transport services by integrating public transit network resources and vehicle spare capacity. However, PFSM has changed the operating characteristics of urban-rural bus systems, posing some new challenges. To expand the relevant theory and find the solutions to those challenges, this study proposes an economy-efficiency-low-carbon -oriented resource reconfiguration strategy by formulating the collaborative bilevel optimization of multi-type bus scheduling and dynamic vehicle capacity allocation for urban-rural bus routes. The improved jellyfish search algorithm is developed to solve the premature convergence problem of the traditional algorithms in solving a high-dimensional hybrid discrete-continuous optimization. The results of a case of two urban-rural bus lines in Shanxi Province, China, indicate that the proposed scheme can improve operating revenue by 328.45% and reduce freight carbon emissions by 19.12 tons/year within the increase of 19.46% in average passenger travel time. The sensitivity analysis explicates key parameters selected for PFSM in terms of economic, efficiency and environmental dimensions. The proposed method provides some novel insights and solutions for the sustainable development of urban-rural public transport systems and the last kilometer problem of rural logistics, with significant values of both economic growth and environmental carbon reduction.