Abstract: In this study, the integrated vehicle and crew scheduling problem of express buses on high-speed railways is studied owing to the lack of appropriate operational approaches for this new type of public transport service product. To benefit from the flexibility of express buses for high-speed railways, the work-time window constraint is introduced to meet the work-time requirements of the crew. An integrating optimization model for vehicle and crew scheduling is built. Then, the optimal vehicle and crew scheduling program is validated with real-time examples. Results show that this integrated optimization model is better than the traditional multiple route optimize independently. Operating costs are reduced by approximately 8.98% compared with the original operation schedule and approximately 4.73% compares with the independent optimization using this integrated optimization model, while the number of crew is also reduced. Furthermore, the accuracy and the satisfactory results of the model in solving the integrated vehicle and crew scheduling problem of express buses for high-speed railway are verified herein.

Key words: urban transportation, express bus for high-speed railways, vehicle scheduling, crew scheduling, work-time window for crew members, integrating optimization