Optimal dynamic bus lane reservation via bi-level programming

This work investigates a new dynamic bus lane reservation problem considering dynamic traffic demand. It is to optimally decide which road links in the bus transit network to set up reserved bus lanes and determine when they are implemented. The objective of the problem is to minimize the total cost of the transportation network, including construction costs and travel time costs for travelers. We formulate the problem as a new bi-level programming model. The upper level is to optimize where and when bus lanes are implemented, while the lower level contains the modal split, traffic assignment, and transit assignment. An improved genetic algorithm is proposed for solving the proposed model and converges to a satifactory solution. Computational results of a case study verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method.