There is a saying by George Bernard Shaw: "The person who behaves sensibly is my tailor. He takes my measure anew every time he sees me. All the rest go on with their old measurements." A good public transport scheduling program is one which has a facility for frequent updating. However, only a few public transport organisations actually update their scheduling data or are aware of the benefits they may gain by this updating. This chapter provides an overview of old and new methods for efficient task scheduling. This overview is accompanied by some examples used as an explanatory device for the prescribed methods. Public transport scheduling covers in essence four major modes of operation - airline, railway, bus, and passenger ferry. While the scheduling processes of buses, railways, and passenger ferries are similar, airline scheduling has some special features, not covered in this chapter. Nonetheless, in what follows there is a brief reference to the latter.
Abstract