Costing Weights

Costing weights are settings that determine how the PASS system looks for scheduling solutions.

Table 1. Factors in the Costing Weights Dialog Box
Field Abbreviation Description
Min Distance CWD Minimizes the distance the vehicle travels to pick up or drop off a client.
Min Run Time CWT Minimizes the run time of a flex run, para run, or taxi run.
Min OOW (Out of the way) CWOOW Minimizes the distance that the vehicle travels out of the way to pick up or drop off a client.
Min TOOW (Total distance out of the way) CWTOOW Minimizes the total distance out of the way for all the clients who are on board the vehicle.

If this is a more important cost, the algorithm attempts to put client pick-ups and drop-offs in a relatively orderly manner.
Min OBT CWOBT Minimizes a client’s on-board time.
Max Same Geo CWGEO Maximizes the geocode by having runs perform multiple trips within the same geocode.
Min Backtrack CWBT Minimizes the amount of backtracking (that is, moving back toward a client's pick-up location or farther away from a client's drop-off location) a run may include.
Min Pullout CWPO Minimizes the number of vehicles that are used during a scheduled day.
Min Walking CWWK Minimizes the amount of walking that a client may have to do to arrive at a stop.
Min Transfers CWTR Minimizes the number of transfers for a client trip on a flex route.
Min Violations CWV Minimizes the amount of violations on a para, taxi, or and flex run.
Min Req Dev CWRD Minimizes the number of requested time deviations on a para, taxi, or flex route.
Load Balancing CWLB Minimizes the number of trips that get assigned to a run once it has reached the threshold defined by the Load Balancing Threshold costing weight.
Min Deadhead CWDH Minimizes or maximizes the importance of penalizing deadhead (total non-revenue distance transporting without clients on board) when routing.
Min Provider Cost CWPC For sites using PASS-CT only. Minimizes the distance between the trip locations and the garage where the taxi is stored.
Min Taxi Garage Dist CWTAXG For assignment to taxi runs.
Min Garage Pullout Slack CWPOS This costing weight is designed to act as a tie breaker for solutions that have very similar costs otherwise.

It can be used to favor solutions that reduce a para run's pull-out slack more than other solutions do.
Min Garage Pullin Slack CWPIS This costing weight is designed to act as a tie breaker for solutions that have very similar costs otherwise.

It can be used to favor solutions that reduce a para run's pull-in slack more than other solutions do.
Max Run Time Flexibility CWRTF

This weight applies only to para runs that have a MaxLength set on them, such that the MaxLength is less than the scheduled out/in times.

When the MaxLength is greater than half the length of the scheduled out/in time period, a window of time exists, during which the run is guaranteed to operate. For example, a run with scheduled times of 8:00 to 20:00 but a MaxLength of 8 hours could end up operating anywhere from 8:00 to 16:00 or 12:00 to 20:00. The common time window is from 12:00 to 16:00, in which this run can always operate—no matter how early the first pick-up or how late the last drop-off. This weight penalizes the insertion of events that fall in the time periods outside of this guaranteed time window.
Run Priority CWRP

Determines how much to favor a high priority run over a lower priority run. Moving the slider all the way to the right means that no lower priority run is suggested if a solution exists for a higher priority run. Moving the slider all the way to the left disregards priorities.

Moving the slider in the middle means that a lower priority run has its total cost increased in proportion to the slider position and the relative priority.
Favor Early Part of Window CWFEW Determines how much to favor trips to be scheduled at the early part of the scheduling window rather than the middle or end of the scheduling window.
Table 2. Variables in the Costing Weights Dialog Box
Field Abbreviation Description
1 second = X meters CVSTM Converts any time costing weight into a distance weight.

For example, the algorithm converts the Min OBT into distance.

The default value is 2.68 meters per second.
1 $ = CVDTM Converts a monetary costing weight into a distance weight.

The sensitivity of parameters that are based on cost can be related to other parameters that are based on distance.

The default value is 1000 meters per dollar.
Free OBT fact CVFOBT Ignores the Min OBT costing weight until the value of this field has been reached.

For example, if the on board time is 60 minutes and this costing variable is 1.5, the system waits 90 minutes for the OBT before it uses the costing weight.

The default value is 1.5.
Free Pullouts CVFPO Ignores the Min Pullout costing weight until this pull-out percentage is reached.

For example, the system uses 66% of the vehicles before considering the Min Pullout costing weight.

The default value is 66%.
OOW Extra CVOOWE Expands the search area by the provided distance.

The default value is 2000 meters.
DH Threshold CVDHTHT No penalty is applied for deadheads shorter than the value typed here.

The default value is 10 minutes.
LB Threshold CVLBT

Load balancing refers to the distribution of trips across the number of available runs. Adjust this setting to have the Schedule Server stop scheduling to a run once it has reached the defined limit by penalizing "busy" runs.

The default value of the slider bar is 100%, which is all the way to the left. The setting at 100% disables this parameter because the workload can never be greater than 100%.

The actual intensity of the penalty is determined by the "Load Balancing Constant" Schedule Server switch (accessible through the Schedule Server application), which multiplies the percent of maximum work used by the value and then multiples it by the costing weight setting.

The default value is 0 and the maximum value is 100.

Scaling

Scaling factors specify costs, or weights, for transport modes in solutions and can be used to specify preferred transport modes.

For example, to specify that the majority of a multi-modal trip should be spent on Flex and FX modes, set the Flex and FX scaling factors to lower values than the Para scaling factor.

Table 3. Scaling Options in the Costing Weights Dialog Box
Field Abbreviation Description
PARA CVPS Scaling factor for Para runs.
FX CVFXS Scaling factor for FX runs.
Flex CVFLS Scaling factor for Flex runs.
Taxi CVTS Scaling factor for taxi runs.
Bulk CVBS Scaling factor for bulk runs.