An Approach to Bus-Crew Roster Design in London Regional Transport

Abstract

An outline is given of the bus-crew rostering problem in London Regional Transport. A method is developed for producing a skeleton roster, this skeleton being composed of standard units which contain fixed patterns of working. The aim is to determine the number of units, and then position them in a suitable sequence so that various operating objectives and constraints are met. A primary objective is to produce an even spread of weekend working through the roster. A method for producing the roster skeleton is described which formed the basis of an experimental approach to the automatic production of detailed crew rosters. Trials indicated that the procedure was capable of quickly producing rosters of sufficiently high quality to justify further development.