Integrated passenger-freight services in rural demand-responsive Transit: evidence from a case study

Rural transport systems typically separate passengers, freight, and parcels, leading to low vehicle utilization and high costs under sparse demand. Existing studies overlook how parcel handling at village stops affects passenger travel time and service coordination in rural demand-responsive transport (DRT). This study models the trade-off between operational cost and passenger inconvenience in rural passenger-freight integration, focusing on the interaction between efficiency and service performance. We formulate an operational decision model for coordinated passenger-parcel activities and apply a heuristic solution to assess service configurations. A case study in Yiyuan County, China, shows that collaborative service design reduces fleet requirements and total operating costs, while the increase in passenger travel time remains moderate. The results also identify conditions under which collaborative services offer greater performance advantages in rural transport systems.