Car pooling optimization: A case study in Strasbourg (France)

Most of the cities around the world face mobility challenges, reflected in the ever increasing commuting times, and causing a dramatic environmental impact. At the same time, environmentally friendly individuals have become aware of the role they play in this problem and they are looking for new transportation alternatives. This is the case of a group of faculty in Strasbourg (France) who commute a significant distance from their home to their workplace and have found in car pooling a solution for their mobility problem. However, car pooling does not come for free. This group of commuters needs to come up with a timetable every two weeks, specifying the faculty who drive, the passengers in each car, the departing and returning time, taking into account multiple departing points and workplaces, and also, guaranteeing that each vehicle carries a prepaid toll card. After modeling the system as a network, two integer linear optimization models are proposed. The first one determines the best vehicle timetable, while the second model finds an efficient way in which the toll cards must be transferred.