Fares Calculator over a Public Transportaion Network

Abstract

Nowadays, in existing Public Transportation Networks, public transports operators usually have a system that allows route calculus on that operators transports. Price calculations are sometimes included. However, for the user, there is no simple method to calculate rates inside geographical locations where multiple operators co-exist. This dissertation intends to study methods to calculate, visualize and retrieve information about fares adequate to travels proposed by a system. Although in the case of a single operator that may be a simple operation, there are some situations which not, namely the ones that include multiple transportation operators with different fare tariffs (like to establish a route that is the cheapest to the user, independent of which operator and service he uses). On the other hand, when facing the specifies of the real world the problem gains a dimension and complexity that makes this a very interesting challenge. On the current universe of operators in the Move-me system, a route finder system created by OPT for the cities of Oporto and Lisbon, we find operators that have more than one active fare tariff and there are also intersections, some times partial, between operators. The result of the calculated fare could also be used to re-feed the routes calculator, adding the price as a complement criteria in routes selection. In the end, this proposal focus on creating a generic fare calculator and to prove its viability by using Oporto city as case study and proof of concept, where we can find transports that uses the Andante fare but also several other private operators of urban transports.