Electric bus scheduling with the self-adaptive charging strategy based on a course selection idea

• Published in: Transportmetrica (Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK) Vol. 20; no. 2
• Main Authors: Zheng, Hankun, Sun, Huijun, Kang, Liujiang, Wu, Jianjun, Guo, Xin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 03.05.2024
• Subjects: branch-and-price; charging schedule; course selection; Electric bus scheduling; self-adaptive charging strategy
• ISSN: 2324-9935; 2324-9943
• DOI: 10.1080/23249935.2023.2170719

This paper investigates the electric bus scheduling problem, aiming to design collaborative service and charging schedules. A self-adaptive charging strategy is introduced, allowing electric buses to be recharged partially and flexibly. Then, a mixed-integer programme model is built for the problem, based on a course selection idea that considers continuous time. Two models for scenarios considering prior greedy and full charging strategies are also established for comparison. Next, a greed-based branch-and-price algorithm is developed for model solving, which incorporates a greedy attachment heuristic for the initialisation and a customised branching scheme based on the course flow. The results of a case study in Beijing show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm and the superiority of the self-adaptive charging strategy. Compared with the two prior charging strategies, the average energy replenishment of electric buses is reduced by 22.47% and 35.99%, and the system cost is reduced by 5.47% and 5.60%.