Recent advances in TRACS

TRACS is an established driver scheduling system [2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9]. Its variant BusTRACS is being used by 29 bus companies, and TrainTRACS is being used by the train operator ScotRail. TrainTRACS has also been used in scheduling projects for several other train operators. As the transport operators start using the system, difficult problem issues arising from individual companies are carefully investigated. These investigations have led to some advanced scheduling strategies being developed. This paper briefly explains the problem of driver scheduling, reviews the developments leading to the current system, discusses the system’s recent advancement in the last few years. The ability to tackle large and complex problems is becoming a very important issue for transport operators. Some recent advances in TRACS are focused on this issue. Three categories of large and complex problems and the strategies for tackling them will be discussed.