How train traffic control works11/30/2022 ![]() ![]() A solid theory and powerful algorithms have led to the development of mathematical vehicle and crew “optimizers”. Vehicle and crew scheduling lead to classical combinatorial optimization problems on network flows and path covers that are nowadays well understood. The rotations of buses and subways, and the schedules of their crews are nowadays commonly computed by optimization algorithms. ![]() Optimization and public transit fit well together. They can spearhead revolutionary applications of mathematical optimization methods in industry and society (FN:M. Traffic and transport are particularly suited to be optimized. Progress in computing speed and algorithms multiplies, making it now possible, for the first time in history, to solve large scale transportation problems to proven optimality. And what is not widely known: mathematical algorithms have improved at least as much as CPUs. Computing power has increased dramatically. Modern IT can provide all needed data and control. Nobel laureates like LeonidKantorovich and Tjalling Koopmans had it, and operations research was the discipline that tried to put it into practice in the 1960s. This is actually an old dream, at least 100 years old. WHY MATHEMATICS CAN IMPROVE TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT The existing means of transportation could be extremely efficient, if their system advantages would be put to use and the disadvantages could be avoided.Īll we need is to make efficient use of these technologies, and the key to this is mathematics and information technology. It would be great if a technological breakthrough like a teleporter would come to our rescue, but this is unlikely − and we also do not need it! We witness significant progress on improving the efficiency of the existing vehicle technologies by downsizing engines, new fuels, better aero-und hydrodynamics, and by using modern information technology for trip planning and route guidance, online information, and internet ordering. In general, costs for traffic and transport are rising, and people complain about congestion and pollution. In Europe, people also move into the cities, depopulating the countryside, with mostly elderly peoplestaying. More than half of the world population already lives in cities, more will, and everybody has witnessed chaotic traffic situations in the megacities of Asia, America, or Africa. These arise from urbanization, ageing societies, and a general scarcity of resources, including environmental ones. Several (Kondratieff)waves of innovations here triggered by progress in traffic and transport. ✺ model that might have taken a year to solve 10 years ago, might now solve in less than 10 seconds.« Progress often came from revolutionary innovations in vehicle technologies such as domesticated animals, the wheel, sailing ships, railways, subways, cars, and aircraft, as well as from the buildup of corresponding infrastructure networks and suitable organizational structures with which the transportation problems of their time could be solved, see Fig. Traffic and transport have always been key industries in the history of mankind. ![]()
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