Seat Assignments With Physical Distancing in Single-Destination Public Transit Settings
While the importance of physical (social) distancing in reducing the spread of COVID-19 has been well-documented, implementing similar controls in public transit remains an open question. For instance, in the United States, guidance for maximum seating capacity in single-destination public transit s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IEEE
2021-01-01
|
| Series: | IEEE Access |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9374410/ |
| _version_ | 1818362096308453376 |
|---|---|
| author | Jane F. Moore Arthur Carvalho Gerard A. Davis Yousif Abulhassan Fadel M. Megahed |
| author_facet | Jane F. Moore Arthur Carvalho Gerard A. Davis Yousif Abulhassan Fadel M. Megahed |
| author_sort | Jane F. Moore |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While the importance of physical (social) distancing in reducing the spread of COVID-19 has been well-documented, implementing similar controls in public transit remains an open question. For instance, in the United States, guidance for maximum seating capacity in single-destination public transit settings, such as school buses, is only dependent on the physical distance between passengers. In our estimation, the available models/guidance are suboptimal/inefficient since they do not account for the possibility of passengers being from the same household. This paper discusses and addresses the aforementioned limitation through two types of physical distancing models. First, a mixed-integer programming model is used to assign passengers to seats based on the reported configuration of the vehicle and desired physical distancing requirement. In the second model, we present a heuristic that allows for household grouping. Through several illustrative scenarios, we show that seating assignments can be generated in near real-time, and the household grouping heuristic increases the capacity of the transit vehicles (e.g., airplanes, school buses, and trains) without increasing the risk of infection. A running application and its source code are available to the public to facilitate adoption and to encourage enhancements. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T21:27:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac0f6e35474d49ffbb3cc1d7bb770058 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2169-3536 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T21:27:09Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Access |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac0f6e35474d49ffbb3cc1d7bb7700582022-12-21T23:30:56ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362021-01-019429854299310.1109/ACCESS.2021.30652989374410Seat Assignments With Physical Distancing in Single-Destination Public Transit SettingsJane F. Moore0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1390-6808Arthur Carvalho1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5381-3588Gerard A. Davis2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9678-7324Yousif Abulhassan3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5907-283XFadel M. Megahed4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2194-5110Farmer School of Business, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USAFarmer School of Business, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USADepartment of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USADepartment of Occupational Safety and Health, Murray State University, Murray, KY, USAFarmer School of Business, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USAWhile the importance of physical (social) distancing in reducing the spread of COVID-19 has been well-documented, implementing similar controls in public transit remains an open question. For instance, in the United States, guidance for maximum seating capacity in single-destination public transit settings, such as school buses, is only dependent on the physical distance between passengers. In our estimation, the available models/guidance are suboptimal/inefficient since they do not account for the possibility of passengers being from the same household. This paper discusses and addresses the aforementioned limitation through two types of physical distancing models. First, a mixed-integer programming model is used to assign passengers to seats based on the reported configuration of the vehicle and desired physical distancing requirement. In the second model, we present a heuristic that allows for household grouping. Through several illustrative scenarios, we show that seating assignments can be generated in near real-time, and the household grouping heuristic increases the capacity of the transit vehicles (e.g., airplanes, school buses, and trains) without increasing the risk of infection. A running application and its source code are available to the public to facilitate adoption and to encourage enhancements.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9374410/Airplane boardingCOVID-19mixed integer programming (MIP) modeloperations researchprescriptive analyticspublic transport |
| spellingShingle | Jane F. Moore Arthur Carvalho Gerard A. Davis Yousif Abulhassan Fadel M. Megahed Seat Assignments With Physical Distancing in Single-Destination Public Transit Settings IEEE Access Airplane boarding COVID-19 mixed integer programming (MIP) model operations research prescriptive analytics public transport |
| title | Seat Assignments With Physical Distancing in Single-Destination Public Transit Settings |
| title_full | Seat Assignments With Physical Distancing in Single-Destination Public Transit Settings |
| title_fullStr | Seat Assignments With Physical Distancing in Single-Destination Public Transit Settings |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seat Assignments With Physical Distancing in Single-Destination Public Transit Settings |
| title_short | Seat Assignments With Physical Distancing in Single-Destination Public Transit Settings |
| title_sort | seat assignments with physical distancing in single destination public transit settings |
| topic | Airplane boarding COVID-19 mixed integer programming (MIP) model operations research prescriptive analytics public transport |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9374410/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT janefmoore seatassignmentswithphysicaldistancinginsingledestinationpublictransitsettings AT arthurcarvalho seatassignmentswithphysicaldistancinginsingledestinationpublictransitsettings AT gerardadavis seatassignmentswithphysicaldistancinginsingledestinationpublictransitsettings AT yousifabulhassan seatassignmentswithphysicaldistancinginsingledestinationpublictransitsettings AT fadelmmegahed seatassignmentswithphysicaldistancinginsingledestinationpublictransitsettings |