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New Mathematical System Helps To Cut Bus Journey Times

sciencedaily.com — A research team from the University of Burgos (UBU) has designed a system to reduce the time spent waiting at bus stops in the city, as well as the length of bus journeys. The method, which could be applied to other locations, is based on a mathematical strategy known as “taboo search.”

Who dugg this? Made popular Mar 25, 2009

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  • inactive, on 03/25/2009, -0/+19"taboo search"? Isn't that how craigslist works?
  • Shagmire, on 03/25/2009, -2/+20A ------------------------------> B

    A _/``\__/`````)__/````\__ > B
  • sulochana, on 03/25/2009, -2/+16This is really fantastic, I don't know when it can be implemented in India.
  • jerryb123, on 07/01/2009, -0/+12Thanks for the clarification.
  • Anwar, on 03/25/2009, -1/+7This type of improvement can greatly improve the overall efficiency of a transportation system. It keeps capital costs low and requires little to no maintenance costs. In some large cities the riders themselves help the flow of urban transport by updating delays online, or more recently with Twitter. This has the effect of maximizing efficiency like the "taboo search" in the article above. These grassroots efforts go a long way but they still require a properly funded transit system.
  • awesometastic1, on 03/25/2009, -0/+6It's more than a few hours. These type of problems tend to be n! in number of calculations required. For the mathematically challenged that means if there is 100 stops for a single bus in a day it takes 100 x 99 x 98 x 97 x ... 2 X 1 number of calculations (even that is a lot of calculations). When you consider all the buses and all possible stops the problem is not solvable in any useful time even with the worlds fastest super computers with using these "best estimate" methods. It could take years if not hundreds of years with the exact solutions and the fastest super computer.
  • mdoom, on 03/25/2009, -0/+5Dude, math is a valuable skill that can be applied to all areas in daily life.

    Heck, even something as "simple" as a speedometer is doing derivatives to calculate your speed.
  • gordigor, on 03/25/2009, -1/+5UBU. IBME.

    Sorry.
  • noumuon, on 03/25/2009, -0/+3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm
  • Hubris, on 03/25/2009, -1/+3Sounds like something you'd see on the Numbers tv show...
  • jc730, on 03/25/2009, -1/+3Isn't this an application of graph theory? We're going over that in one of my math classes, it's nice to see that at least one thing I learn in the class has an application.
  • dazparkour, on 03/25/2009, -1/+3Or it might just take a week on 200 PS2's - do the maths and get back to me.
  • noumuon, on 03/25/2009, -0/+2a speedometer is based on the circumference of your wheel and the number of revolutions per unit time.
  • mdoom, on 03/26/2009, -0/+1Yes, which is a derivative yet. The first part there, circumference of wheel and number of revolutions, thats used to determine distance. a derivative of distance is speed. to continue, the derivative of speed is acceleration.
  • Exiler86, on 03/26/2009, -0/+1Um, It's a Tabu Search, not Taboo.
  • Fiola, on 03/26/2009, -1/+2it's not "taboo search" it's tabu search.
    and it's been around for quite some time now. I suppose this may be the first time applied to bus journey search, but i dont see why you can't just do an optimal search. even with 382 bus stops like they said in the article, with today's processing power, it wouldn't take more than couple seconds to compute the solution.
  • GlassAgate, on 03/27/2009, -0/+1It's called English. Please, learn it.
  • dazparkour, on 03/26/2009, -0/+1I'm pretty sure, if it's something as important as every bus route in a major city, people are given more than a week.
  • lornali, on 03/26/2009, -0/+1This is interesting
  • mstrebe, on 03/26/2009, -1/+2The only thing new about this heuristic search optimization is that the author of the article had never heard of it. Taboo search (without the cool name) has been used in fast heuristics of the traveling salesman problem for decades.
  • m6ack, on 03/26/2009, -0/+1From 20 min to 17 min... waiting...
    From 16 min to 13.5 min... traveling...

    For a filthy, soot spurting bus, and the occasional -- well, really, inevitable -- bum or wino for entertainment... I prefer my car.

    And Shagmire... you're the man.
  • dazparkour, on 03/25/2009, -3/+3Wait, they say that the other method would have worked better but taken longer?

    It's not like computers get bored, run it a few hours, hell, rent a farm for a day, knock yourself out - it could have effected thousands of hours of driving, is it not worth a week's computing power?
  • awesometastic1, on 03/25/2009, -2/+2That's a great improvement, but all they are describing is dynamic computing methods. This is not "new" precisely. Clearly they've applied a method to a problem that never had it applied to it before and got a better result. But this type of mathematics has been around a long long time and is computer science 201 type of level.
  • crossmr, on 03/25/2009, -2/+2This seems like a good idea, but if its working on cutting weight time..doesn't that mean there is a higher likelihood of failure in the event of a problem introduced into the system. Bus breaks down, driver has to go to the bathroom, traffic accident, etc?
  • Wargasmic, on 03/25/2009, -2/+2Weight time....
  • Ttech2, on 03/25/2009, -2/+1So using simple logic is now a mathematical formula?
  • yongtae, on 03/26/2009, -2/+1Kid, in real life, you don't have a week to make a decision. That's why heuristics are used.
  • Rhoderunner, on 03/25/2009, -2/+1BRT's problems are solved, no need for light rail!

    I know that this can help bus transportation systems that already exist but cities need to explore and invest in light rail. I'm wary of anything that the FTA can use to back up its "just like light rail, but cheaper" stance...
  • divinediva, on 03/25/2009, -9/+7These improvements will allow urban transport users in Burgos to save time during their trips.
  • inactive, on 03/25/2009, -8/+2Only losers ride buses....
  • jerryb123, on 07/01/2009, -10/+2Did someone ask you?
  • inactive, on 03/25/2009, -9/+0This is bs *****!! i have to od math to use the bus now?!
  • moifee, on 03/25/2009, -9/+0Don't stop believin'

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