DY-RT: a tool for the schedule-based planning of regional transit networks

This paper describes a decision support system (DSS) for the design and evaluation of service integrated systems (bus-bus and/or railway-bus) at regional scale. The modelling system has been built through a “what if” approach by using a system of schedule-based supply, demand and demand-supply interaction models; these models have been implemented in a software tool called DY-RT (DYnamic Regional Transit). The use of a within-day dynamic schedule-based approach allows us to evaluate on-board flows and level of service attributes (especially interchange times) for each run of each line, in order to assess in a more detailed way the effect of service integration and timetable synchronisation for regional transit networks, as described in the application examples reported in the final part of the paper.