SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INCORPORATING ORIGINATION AND DESTINATION EFFECTS INTO A VEHICLE ASSIGNMENT PROCESS

A comprehensive system and methodology for incorporating origination and destination network effects into a transportation industry's vehicle assignment process. The invention utilizes a decomposition strategy to combine a simplified version of network segment-FAM with the network flow aspects of origination and destination yield management. The invention's decomposition of the problem allows for the nonlinear aspects of the targeted origination and destination market effects to be isolated in origination and destination yield management, and subsequently incorporated in the vehicle assignment model using linear approximations to the total revenue function. The system operates either in "standalone" mode, or communicably attached to remote and local databases attendant to equipment and scheduling.