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Shortest Paths Approaches for Timetable Information

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Encyclopedia of Algorithms
  • 39 Accesses

Years and Authors of Summarized Original Work

  • 2004; Pyrga, Schulz, Wagner, Zaroliagis

Problem Definition

Consider the route-planning task for passengers of scheduled public transportation. Here, the running example is that of a train system, but the discussion applies equally to bus, light-rail and similar systems. More precisely, the task is to construct a timetable information system that, based upon the detailed schedules of all trains, provides passengers with good itineraries, including the transfer between different trains.

Solutions to this problem consist of a model of the situation (e.g., can queries specify a limit on the number of transfers?), an algorithmic approach, its mathematical analysis (does it always return the best solution? Is it guaranteed to work fast in all settings?), and an evaluation in the real world (Can travelers actually use the produced itineraries? Is an implementation fast enough on current computers and real data?).

Key Results

The problem is...

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Recommended Reading

  1. Gerards B, Marchetti-Spaccamela A (eds) (2004) Proceedings of the 3rd workshop on algorithmic methods and models for optimization of railways (ATMOS‘03) 2003. Electronic notes in theoretical computer science, vol 92. Elsevier

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  3. Brodal GS, Jacob R (2003) Time-dependent networks as models to achieve fast exact time-table queries. In: Proceedings of the 3rd workshop on algorithmic methods and models for optimization of railways (ATMOS‘03), [1], pp 3–15

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  4. Müller-Hannemann M, Schnee M (2006) Paying less for train connections with MOTIS. In: Kroon LG, Möhring RH (eds) Proceedings of the 5th workshop on algorithmic methods and models for optimization of railways (ATMOS‘05), Dagstuhl, Internationales Begegnungs- und Forschungszentrum fuer Informatik (IBFI), Schloss Dagstuhl. Dagstuhl Seminar Proceedings, no. 06901

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  5. Müller-Hannemann M, Schnee M (2007) Finding all attractive train connections by multi-criteria pareto search. In: Geraets F, Kroon LG, Schöbel A, Wagner D, Zaroliagis CD (eds) Algorithmic methods for railway optimization, international Dagstuhl workshop, Dagstuhl Castle, 20–25 June 2004, 4th international workshop, ATMOS 2004, Bergen, 16–17 Sept 2004, revised selected papers. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 4359. Springer, Berlin, pp 246–263

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  6. Müller-Hannemann M, Schulz F, Wagner D, Zaroliagis CD (2007) Timetable information: models and algorithms. In: Geraets F, Kroon LG, Schöbel A, Wagner D, Zaroliagis CD (eds) Algorithmic methods for railway optimization, international Dagstuhl workshop, Dagstuhl Castle, 20–25 June 2004, 4th International Workshop, ATMOS 2004, Bergen, 16–17 Sept 2004, revised selected papers. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 4359. Springer, pp 67–90

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  9. Pyrga E, Schulz F, Wagner D, Zaroliagis C (2003) Towards realistic modeling of time-table information through the time-dependent approach. In: Proceedings of the 3rd workshop on algorithmic methods and models for optimization of railways (ATMOS‘03), [1], pp 85–103

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  10. Pyrga E, Schulz F, Wagner D, Zaroliagis C (2007) Efficient models for timetable information in public transportation systems. J Exp Algorithm 12:2.4

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  11. Schulz F, Wagner D, Weihe K (2000) Dijkstra’s algorithm on-line: an empirical case study from public railroad transport. J Exp Algorithm 5:1–23

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Acknowledgments

I want to thank Matthias Müller‐Hannemann, Dorothea Wagner, and Christos Zaroliagis for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this entry.

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Correspondence to Riko Jacob .

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Jacob, R. (2016). Shortest Paths Approaches for Timetable Information. In: Kao, MY. (eds) Encyclopedia of Algorithms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2864-4_371

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