Deficit Function Approach to
Vehicle Scheduling
Dr.T.A.S.Vijayaraghavan
XLRI Jamshedpur
d(i,t,S) denotes the deficit function for terminal i at time t for
the schedule S.
Let D(i,S) = Max value of d(i,t,S) …Deficit at terminal i
Also Let D(S) = Σi D(i,S)
D(S) is the Total Deficit of all the terminals.
Let g(t,S) = Σi d(i,t,S) . This is overall deficit function which
denotes the number of trips in simultaneous operation at
time t.
Let the maximal value of this function over a scheduling
horizon be G(S)
1
Fleet Size Theorem
Given a set of terminals T and a schedule of trips S such that
all trips start and end within the schedule horizon.
Let N(S) be the minimum number of vehicles required to
service all the trips in S.
Then
N(S) = Σi D(i,S) = Σi Max value of d(i,t,S) = D(S)
In other words, the minimum number of vehicle required to
service all trips is equal to the sum of the maximum deficits of
all the terminals.
Maximum Possible Reduction Proposition
For a given number of fixed schedule of trips, the
maximum possible number of vehicles that can be saved
(or reduced) through insertion of Dead Trips is
N(S)-G(S) >= 0
This difference is the scope for improvement in fleet
savings and also gives the lower bound on the savings
beyond which no savings are possible unless we disturb
the trip timings in the Schedule.
2
Trip No. Originating Departure Ending Arrival Time
Terminal time Terminal
(Destination)
1 B 6.00 A 6.50
2 B 10.30 C 11.20
3 C 11.30 B 12.20
4 A 6.00 B 6.50
5 B 8.00 C 8.50
6 C 9.00 B 9.50
7 A 10.00 B 10.50
8 B 6.10 C 7.00
9 C 13.20 A 14.10
10 B 7.00 A 7.50
11 A 8.00 B 8.50
12 B 9.00 C 9.50
13 C 10.00 A 10.50
14 A 11.00 B 11.50
We will apply the Deficit function approach to determine the minimum
fleet required to service these 14 trips in the schedule.
Step.1
Take the timings of departures and arrivals at each terminal separately
for all the terminals in the given schedule( in the order of their timings)
.In the example, they are terminal A, B and C.
Consider Terminal A
Trip No. Departures Trip no. Arrivals
4 6.00 1 6.50
11 8.00 10 7.50
7 10.00 13 10.50
14 11.00 9 14.10
3
Step-2
Choose a time interval say 5 or10 minutes depending on the trip timings.
Construct the deficit function (on the lines shown here for terminal A) for all the
terminals. Since the deficit function change sits values at nay departure or arrival
or both, the table here shows the deficit function values only at those timings.
However, to derive the full benefit of this concept for improvement of schedules,
it is advisable to construct the full deficit function.
Time Cumulative Departures (D) Cumulative Arrivals (A) Deficit (D-A)
6.00 1 0 1
6.50 1 1 0
7.50 1 2 -1
8.00 2 2 0
10.00 3 2 1
10.50 3 3 0
11.00 4 3 1
14.10 4 4 0
Maximum Deficit here is 1.
Carrying out similar deficit function values for
terminals B and C, we get the maximum deficit at
B is 3 and n C the maximum deficit is 0.
Total Maximum deficit in all the 3 terminals is
1+3+0 =4
Therefore, the minimum number of vehicles
required for the given schedule is 4
4
Saha’s Linking Algorithm
A B C
STARTING TRIPS ? 6.00 8.00 10.00 11.00 6.00 6.10 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.30 9.00 10.00 11.30 13.20
4 11 7 14 1 8 10 5 12 2 6 13 3 9
ENDING TRIPS ?
6.50 1 1
7.50 10 1
A
10.50 13 1
14.10 9
6.50 4 1
8.50 11 1
9.50 6 1
B
10.50 7
11.50 14
12.20 3
7.00 8 1
8.50 5 1
C
9.50 12 1
11.20 2 1
Chains are { 1,11,12,3}, {8,6,2,9}, {5,13,14} and {4,10,7}
