VOLVO APPROACH TO COMPUTER-AIDED TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

A comprehensive, computerized public transportation planning system developed by Volvo is presented. Considerations that governed the design of the system are emphasized. The approach is based on cooperation between person and computer so that the ability of the human planner to survey a complex problem, identify critical areas, and intuitively find solutions is stimulated. An interactive graphics system is used to achieve efficient communication between person and computer. Dialogue optimization tools are included for some subproblems in transportation planning. Limiting tasks so that they can be better controlled by the planner makes possible experiments with objectives and restrictions that are often controversial or insufficiently understood. Experience with the program is limited to areas of up to 0.7 million population, but results are encouraging for future development. /Author/