Automated Bus Routing (ABR)

The need for a transport system which uses on-demand routing arises principally from the
shortcomings of the current options available for local journeys. The average Briton makes
821 trips of below 10 miles annually (National Travel Survey: 2008) with the realistic choices
of transport (outside London) being:
• Walking/Cycling. However, this is slow, impractical for longer journeys and often
inconvenient for children, the elderly, the mobility disadvantaged, and those with luggage.
Cycling can also be dangerous - there were 3,277 deaths or serious injuries in London alone in
2009.
• Buses. However, these services are not point to point, they may be infrequent and/or
unreliable, and they are not always available, particularly in low density areas.
• Driving. However, this requires access to a vehicle (which 20% of British households
do not have) and can be expensive, especially if parking charges apply.
• Taxis. However, a 6 mile journey in London will cost in the range £17 - £30.
What travellers want is a low cost, point to point service available on demand with a low
journey time and the minimum of hassle. Our codename for this concept, which would
typically be delivered by a fleet of minibuses, is Automated Bus Routing (ABR). It works like
this (the full use case is appended):
• The traveller contacts the ABR provider with their desired pick-up location, pick-up
time, drop-off location, and (optionally) a request to minimise a key attribute of the journey
such as cost or duration.
• The ABR provider offers the traveller a journey option consisting of a pick-up time,
drop-off time, number of transfers (if necessary), price, and quality of service guarantee, for
example in the permissible deviation in drop-off time.
• If the traveller accepts the offer, they are billed and the ABR provider delivers the
service. If the quality of service guarantees are not met then part of the fee is reimbursed.
The concept of dynamic routing is not new. A 1968 US Congress report investigated the
social benefits of the idea but concluded that the necessary technology to monitor vehicle
locations (it being pre-GPS) did not exist. Nevertheless low tech versions of such systems
have evolved (examples are given below), but just not typically in the developed Western
world where scheduled public transport services have long been pervasive and
institutionalised.
What is needed, now the technology exists or is in reach, is a paradigm shift in our approach
to creating new and more efficient transport systems. That in itself requires the benefits of
ABR to be clear and demonstrable. This project aims to provide that by:
• Creating prototype software for the dynamic re-routing of buses to deliver passengers’
on-demand journeys (codenamed the ABR Algorithm or ABRA).
• Creating a simulation platform to demonstrate that ABRA can deliver the benefits
claimed of ABR in a range of realistic scenarios (codenamed the Computer Aided
Demonstration of ABRA or CADABRA).