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Get me to the train on time

December 01, 2003

When the first German rail line was established between Nürnberg and Fürth in 1835, the public was warned of the associated health hazards. According to one medical expert, a ride on the iron horse could lead to delirium furiosum - an early form of "road rage". Even today's public transportation users can occasionally be driven to a state of anguish. Will my bus still be there if my train is three minutes late? In turn, transportation schedulers face a daily fundamental dilemma: keeping as many vehicles as possible on time while limiting the number of missed passenger connections.

"Schedulers have always relied on pure instinct to determine whether or not to wait," says Professor Stefan Nickel, head of the optimization department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM in Kaiserslautern. "This was the impetus behind the software called AnSiM which we developed over the past two years together with the Rhein-Neckar regional transportation association (VRN)." The interconnection management program is an aid for transportation system operation planners. The project is supported by the Rheinland-Pfalz Innovation Foundation.

To develop a prototype of the software, the Fraunhofer researchers first acquired the system timetables from the VRN. In addition, VRN network schedulers provided input on the required functionality of the program. "We need a means to perform sensitivity analysis as early as the creation phase of a timetable," explains Bernhard Salzmann, who heads the scheduling and passenger service department at the VRN. "This allows us to simulate the impact of a delay, including how many passengers would be affected."

AnSiM will supply operators with an overall picture of the network, looking beyond the impact of individual connections. A bus that waits for a train can disrupt its own schedule. In the worst case, a chain reaction can ripple through the entire network. No one person can keep an eye on every branch of the network. Now however, schedulers can concentrate on the overall network because the software identifies conflicts and provides alternative solutions. "The software will not eliminate the need for people, rather it facilitates the decision process," says Dr. Michael Schröder, AnSiM project manager at the ITWM. "We are now seeking a partner to co-develop the prototype into a marketable product." Together with fifteen other Fraunhofer Institutes, the ITWM founded the Fraunhofer Traffic and Transportation Alliance at the beginning of this year.

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