Design and Evaluation of Passenger Ferry Routes

Abstract

This article introduces a planning framework for improving and best utilizing existing water and ferry resources. It presents an analysis framework and formulation for designing and evaluating passenger ferry routes. The motivation for this work emanates from problems encountered by the ferry service in Hong Kong, including the continuous loss in ferry patronage. This loss is believed to be caused by the ferry’s relatively poor level of service and intense competition from more attractive alternatives. The article reports on an evaluation and design methodology for the entire passenger ferry network, consisting of a framework with operational objective functions that takes into account passe..