Sustainable Customized Bus Services: A Data-Driven Framework for Joint Demand Analysis and Route Optimization

Promoting demand-responsive transit (DRT) is crucial for developing sustainable and green transportation systems in urban areas, especially in light of decreasing transit ridership and increasingly varying demand. However, the effectiveness of such services hinges on their ability to efficiently match varying travel demand. This paper presents a data-driven framework for the joint optimization of customized bus routes and timetables, to enhance both service quality and operational sustainability. Our approach leverages large-scale taxi trip data to identify latent travel demand, applying a spatial–temporal clustering method to group trip requests and identify DRT stops by trip origin, destination, and direction. An adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS) algorithm is improved to co-optimize passenger waiting times and bus operation costs, where an unbalanced penalty for early or late schedule deviations is developed to better reflect passengers’ discomfort. The framework’s performance is validated through a real-world case study, demonstrating its ability to generate efficient routes and schedules. The model manages to improve passenger experience and reduce operation costs. By creating a more appealing and efficient service, this model contributes directly to the goals of green transport in terms of reducing the total vehicle kilometers that are traveled, and demonstrating a viable, high-quality alternative to private car usage. This study offers a practical and robust tool for transit planners to design a next-generation DRT system that is both economically viable and environmentally sustainable.