New Jersey Chapter
Date:
Thursday May 2, 2013
Location:
Room 169, RUTCOR Building
Busch Campus, Rutgers University
Agenda:
6:00-6:30 Mixer
6:30-7:30 Dinner
7:30-9:00 Presentation
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Crew Roster Algorithm for Commuter Passenger Rail Operators

Marc Meketon, David Hunt and Alexander Shatov
Oliver Wyman

Marc Meketon has been designing and building software and operations research models since 1980, most of that time devoted to airline and railway transportation. He is a Vice President at Oliver Wyman, a strategic consulting firm, in their railway practice. He has also managed operations research groups at an airline, a large railway, at Bell Laboratories, and is a long-time adjunct professor at Villanova University. He holds a PhD in Operations Research from Cornell University.

David Hunt, also with Oliver Wyman, specializes in modeling transportation systems to assist decision making for policy, strategic planning and operational improvements. Most of his work involves railroads, and he has been fortunate to work with many of the largest rail systems in the world. He is the past Chair of the New Jersey Chapter of INFORMS, organizer of the NJ Chapter Student Contest, and a member of the national INFORMS Subdivision Council. David holds an MSE in Operations Research and Civil Engineering from Princeton University.

Alexander Shatov, currently a Lead Software Engineer at Oliver Wyman, specializes in modeling and software development of freight and passenger transportation systems for strategic planning and operational improvements of railroads. Alexander holds a PhD in Solid State Physics from Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences.

Abstract

Crews are one of the largest expenses incurred by any transportation company, and therefore an area that receives much attention. Optimizing crew assignments becomes complex, and interesting, when trying to match crews to service schedules and when multiple crews members are needed for each trip, as is the case in both airlines and railroads. The computational requirements grow rapidly as the number of trains operated per day increases and as the planning horizon increases, which generally forces the problem to be solved in steps and forces the use of geographical partitions. The crew assignment problem also has to consider several real world constraints imposed by the Federal government and by the unions to protect crew and passenger safety and to provide for fair and balanced job assignments.

The crew assignment problem at a commuter railway, such as SEPTA or NJ Transit, typically involves three steps:

1. Develop daily crew jobs: Establishes sequences of train-route segments and other moves between locations that a crew takes over the course of a single day. The crew must start and stop at the same location, follow multiple government and union rules such as limiting the total time, the work time, and breaks for meals.
2. Develop a weekly roster: Create a weekly set of crew jobs (called a roster), with one or two-consecutive days off, that cover all the crew jobs, has each job starting about the same time of day, allows for the required rest period between jobs, and follows other fixed and flexible conditions.
3. Bid out the rosters: This is the process of assigning rosters to individuals. The assignments could be as simple as a strict seniority bidding, or could be more complex with individuals stating preferences and an algorithm determining the assignments.
Our presentation will address all three steps, but will primarily focus on step 2, creating weekly rosters. We will draw examples from our work with a local commuter railroad.

Mixer and dinner (alter among pizza, Chinese, ... from meeting to meeting) cost is $10.00 ($3.00 for students) to be paid at the door. Note also that 2013 chapter dues of $10 for INFORMS National Member or $11 for Non-member may be paid at the door. Student or retiree dues: $3.00. Attendance at the lecture will be for NJ and NY Metro INFORMS members only. NJ Chapter membership forms will be available at the door.

Visit NJ INFORMS Chapter home page at http://rutcor.rutgers.edu/~lih/informs/njchap.html

Driving Directions to RUTCOR, Busch Campus, Rutgers University

From Route 1 and Turnpike:
Get on Route 18 West/North and follow directions below.
From Route 18:
1. Follow Route 18 North (or West - signs differ, mean the same) to New Brunswick area.
2. Follow Route 18 North along river over big bridge across river and take exit for Busch Campus.
3. Bear right at the traffic circle onto Bartholomew Road.
4. Turn left at the first stop sign onto Brett Road.
5. Follow Brett Road to the end, bear left into furthest parking lot (lot #64).
6. Follow cement walk past the Winlab modular building to the RUTCOR modular building set back in the woods.
From Route 287 North:
1. Take Exit 9 (formerly Exit 5, Bound Brook / Highland Park).
2. Turn left from off ramp (towards Highland Park).
3. Follow River Road (approx. 4 miles) to the 6th light.
4. Make a left onto Route 18 north.
5. Take the first, Busch Campus, exit.
6. Bear right at the traffic circle onto Bartholomew Road.
7. Turn left at the first stop sign onto Brett Road.
8. Follow Brett Road to the end, bear left into furthest parking lot (lot #64).
9. Follow cement walk past the Winlab modular building to the RUTCOR modular building set back in the woods.
From Route 287 South:
Take Exit 9 (formerly Exit 5, Bound Brook / Highland Park).
Bear right and follow above directions.
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