self-organization leads to supraoptimal performance in public transportation systems在公共交通系统自组织导致supraoptimal性能.pdfVIP

Self-Organization Leads to Supraoptimal Performance in Public Transportation Systems Carlos Gershenson1,2* ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ 1 Departamento de Ciencias de la Computacion, Instituto de Investigaciones en Matematicas Aplicadas y en Sistemas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Distrito Federal, Mexico, 2 Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico Abstract The performance of public transportation systems affects a large part of the population. Current theory assumes that passengers are served optimally when vehicles arrive at stations with regular intervals. In this paper, it is shown that self- organization can improve the performance of public transportation systems beyond the theoretical optimum by responding adaptively to local conditions. This is possible because of a ‘‘slower-is-faster’’ effect, where passengers wait more time at stations but total travel times are reduced. The proposed self-organizing method uses ‘‘antipheromones’’ to regulate headways, which are inspired by the stigmergy (communication via environment) of some ant colonies. Citation: Gershenson C (2011) Self-Organization Leads to Supraoptimal Performance in Public Transportation Systems. PLoS ONE 6(6): e21469. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0021469 Editor: Yamir Moreno, University of Zaragoza, Spain Received February 16, 2011; Accepted June 2, 2011; Published June 30, 2011 Copyright: 2011 Carlos Gershenson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attr