A dynamic simulation based model for optimal fleet repositioning in bike-sharing systems

In this paper a simulation model for dynamic bikes redistribution process is presented. The objective of the model is to minimize the vehicles repositioning costs for bike-sharing operators, aiming at a high level users satisfaction, and assuming that it increases with the probability to find an available bike or a free docking point in any station at any time. The proposed model considers the dynamic variation of the demand (for both bikes and free docking slot) and micro-simulate the BSS in space and time determining the optimal repositioning flows, distribution patterns and time intervals between relocation operations by explicitly considering the route choice for trucks among the stations. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.