EURO 2025 Leeds
Abstract Submission

2799. Integrated Multi-Objective Optimisation for Walking School Bus Route Planning and Supervisor Rostering

Invited abstract in session TD-8: Session in honour of Theo Stewart, stream Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding.

Tuesday, 14:30-16:00
Room: Clarendon SR 2.08

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Leena Ahmed
Management science, Lancaster University
2. Matthias Ehrgott
Management Science, Lancaster University
3. Judith Y. T. Wang
School of Civil Engineering & Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds
4. Ahmed Kheiri
University of Manchester

Abstract

Walking School Buses (WSBs) are a form of supervised Active School Travel (AST) that provide a safe and sustainable transport option for children under adult supervision. They help to reverse the global trend of parents chauffeuring children to school and reduce the negative effects of the use of motorised vehicles. However, the success of WSB programmes has been impeded by key challenges, particularly in safe route planning and personnel availability. There has been a limited number of studies on routing optimisation but no specific studies on rostering of WSB supervisors. This presents a specific research gap for us to address both challenges with optimisation.
We propose an integrated optimisation framework combining two sequential multi-objective integer linear programming models for route planning and supervisors rostering. The route planning model aims to find efficient walking routes considering three conflicting objectives: travel time, walkability as a measure of safety and comfort, and pollution dose. Additionally, it determines the demand on each route for the rostering model. The supervisor rostering model then assigns supervisors on the planned routes based on their availability and preferences, ensuring enough supervisors to cover the demand on each route. The rostering model, formulated as a set-partitioning problem aims to minimise scheduling costs while ensuring adequate coverage.
The proposed framework is tested on real-world instances from two schools in Bradford, UK, Shipley C.E. Primary and Wycliffe C.E. Primary. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach in generating safe and efficient walking routes and balanced supervisors’ rosters, ensuring a scalable and sustainable WSB service.

Keywords

Status: accepted

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