Rolling Stock Selection Methodology for Urban Bus Routes, Taking into Account Economic and Technical Factors

Abstract

The relevance of studying the methodology development for selecting rolling stock for urban bus routes, taking into account economic and technical factors, is due to the fact that passenger bus transport is an essential element of the urban transport system, part of the infrastructure providing the bulk of the population transportation. In some regions of the country, bus transport is the only possible mode of transport. But at the same time, despite the great importance of bus transport, there are serious problems in the organization of its work. In particular, one of the most important problems is the problem of choosing the capacity of rolling stock that corresponds to the passenger traffic capacity and ensures the transportation of passengers at the lowest possible cost of time and money, with the highest possible quality of service and safety.
The analysis of existing methods for choosing the brand and model of rolling stock for urban bus routes has shown that most of them take into account either the quality of passenger transport services or economic factors when choosing. Combined techniques, taking into account several factors when selecting rolling stock, use a rather narrow range of them, which requires scientific justification for its expansion. In addition, the existing techniques are focused on the selection of rolling stock from the brands and models of buses available to the motor transport company and used on existing routes, which makes it difficult to apply them when planning the organization of transportation on new routes.
Based on the analysis of existing techniques for selecting the brand and model of rolling stock for urban bus routes, identifying their advantages and disadvantages, the methodology for selecting rolling stock for these routes are improved. The novelty of the proposed methodology lies in taking into account, when choosing a rolling stock, the cost of transporting one passenger, as well as the group indicator of the competitiveness of buses according to regulatory and technical parameters. In addition, the methodology allows to ensure the maximum level of quality of passenger transport services, taking into account the optimal interval of their movement when choosing the capacity of buses.
The use of the proposed methodology for choosing the brand and model of rolling stock for urban bus routes will allow enterprises of passenger motor transport to provide urban routes with rational rolling stock, which significantly
reduces the cost of transportation and increases the level of profit. In addition, by providing rolling stock with a capacity corresponding to the capacity of passenger traffic and ensuring an optimal interval of movement, the quality of passenger transport services and the level of competitiveness of the services provided are significantly improved. The developed methodology can be used to select the rational rolling stock of other types of transport.