Interactive Bus Scheduling Based on Autonomous Modular Bus and Skip-Stop Strategy

The skip-stop strategy is an effective method to reduce bus operation costs and minimize passenger ride time, while the introduction of autonomous modular buses (AMBs) can alleviate the negative impact of significantly varying passenger demand at different times. This paper proposes an interactive bus scheduling platform system that combines AMBs with the skip-stop strategy, aiming to lower costs and enhance passenger service levels. Passengers provide their boarding and alighting stops and boarding time for reservation, and the platform system generates optimal scheduling strategies based on reservation information, determining the number of bus units for each trip and the corresponding skip-stop strategies. A multiobjective optimization method is used to balance passenger service levels (including waiting time, ride time, walking time, and extra waiting time) and bus operation costs (bus travel time). For passengers whose initial demand cannot be fully met, the platform system will provide alternative solutions, achieving global optimization through passenger interaction. We also examined the impact of different bus unit capacities (4, 5, 6, and 7) on the experimental results, showing how capacity influences both passenger and operational costs. Meanwhile, the proposed model was also compared with an existing model, demonstrating its effectiveness.