A Simulation Study of Demand Responsive Transport for the Disabled to Minimize User Waiting Time

Abstract

Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) is widely used as a door-to-door service for people with disabilities (persons with disabilities, elderly people, pregnant women, etc.). The mobility impaired have limited or difficulty in using public transportation for people who are uncomfortable to move. DRT is a suitable means of providing customized services for the mobility impaired in that it can support the mobility service according to the user's request by picking up the user at the desired place and at the desired pick-up time. In this study, we developed a simulation model to study how to minimize user waiting time, which is one of the indices of service level, as a way to improve the service level of DRT for the mobility impaired. Moreover, simulation is useful for evaluating various operating methods, and since DRT has a large problem size, simulation is developed rather than a mathematical model. Using the real data of DRT for the disabled in Seoul Metropolitan City in 2016, a simulation model was tested and calibrated to find the optimal matching time and evaluated the effectiveness compared with the existing operation method.