This proceedings volume consists of papers presented at the Seventh
International Workshop on Computer-Aided Scheduling of Pllblic
Transport, which was held at th th the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology from August 5 to 8, 1997. In the tradition of alternating
Workshops between North American and Europe - Chicago (1975), Leeds
(1980), Montreal (1983), Hamburg (1986), Montreal (1990), and Lisbon
(1993), Cambridge (Massachusetts, USA) was selected for the Workshop in
1997. As in earlier workshops, the central theme dealt with vehicle and
crew scheduling problems and the development of software systems
incorporating operations research techniques for operational planning in
public transport. However, following the trend that started in Hamburg
in 1987, the scope of this Workshop was broadened to include topics in
related fields. Two trends underlie this. First, the recognition that
the core scheduling issues in public transport have important common
elements with other application areas in which extensive work is also
underway, and that it is vital to learn from these other initiatives.
Second, while scheduling is indeed a core problem in public transport
planning, and has shown the first and greatest benefits from computer
application, it is intimately related to the preceding tasks in the
planning hierarchy, such as service design, and the following tasks such
as operations control and public information.