Using the GA in the Public-Transportation Route-selection Process

As the applied fields of GIS are expanded to the transportation, developing internet-based applications for transportation information is getting attention increasingly. Most applications developed so far are primarily focused on guidance systems for owner-driven cars. Although some recent ones are devoted to public transportation systems, they show limitations in dealing with the following aspects: (i) people may change transportation means not only within the same type but also among different modes such as between buses and subways, and (ii) the system should take into account the time taken in transfer from one mode to the other. This study suggest the framework for developing a public transportation guidance system that generates optimized paths in the transportation network of mixed means including buses, subways and other modes. For this study, the Genetic Algorithms are used to find the best routes that take into account transfer time and other service-time constraints.