Verifying The Practical Use of the Schedule Based Method

To predict (passenger)loads on public transport services, models have to be used. Determination of loads, is called a route assignment. Two methods are used to perform the assignment, these are schedule based and frequency based methods. The frequency based method is a static assignment method, which makes no use of time. The schedule based method is a dynamic method, which does take time into account. Schedule based methods provide more detailed calculations. These highly detailed calculations, require more input and are the cause of high computation times. Frequency based methods cannot make very detailed calculations. The low level of detail makes it easier to make calculations when limited data is available. Computation times of the frequency based assignment are also much smaller. In practice frequency based method are used more. There is a lot of understanding in the improvements a schedule based approach can provide in theoretical sense. However, current literature lacks at giving a clear practical comparison between schedule and frequency based approaches. It is not known how large the improvements are and to what extend certain situations need to be modelled with schedule base methods. This study must: give more insights in the schedule based algorithm, facilitate the use of this method and gain more knowledge about the benefits of the schedule based method compared to the disadvantages. A recommendation in the usage of both methods should also be given. The main research question is: What are the main differences between the schedule based and frequency based methods in a practical application and what influences these differences?