Hybrid search and the dial-a-ride problem with transfer scheduling constraints

In a conventional dial-a-ride-system passengers are moved with the same vehicle between their pickup and their drop-off location. In a dial-a-ride-system with transfer, it is possible (or even standard) that passengers change the vehicle once or several times. Transfer Scheduling Constraints (TSC) are imposed in order to ensure that the comfort of the transfer remains on an acceptable level by avoiding too short or too long transfer times but also for limiting the total riding time between the initial pickup location to the final destination. In this contribution, we investigate the dial-a-ride-problem with transfer scheduling constraints (DARP-TSC) as an example for routing scenarios with TSC. We provide initial insights into the consequences of introducing TSCs using computational experiments with a memetic algorithm metaheuristic.