Optimization of the Mashaer Shuttle-Bus Service in Hajj: Arafat-Muzdalifah Case Study

Abstract

Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, is held annually in the month of Dhul Al-Hijjah, the twelfth month, in the Islamic calendar. Pilgrims travel to Makkah and its neighbouring areas—Mina, Muzdalifah, and Arafat. Annually, about 2.5 million pilgrims perform spatiotemporally restricted rituals in these holy places that they must execute to fulfil the pilgrimage. These restrictions make the task of transportation in Hajj a big challenge. The shuttle bus service is an essential form of transport during Hajj due to its easy availability at all stages and ability to transport large numbers. The current shuttle service suffers from operational problems; this can be deduced from the service delays and customer dissatisfaction with the service. This study provides a system to help in planning the operation of the service for one of the Hajj Establishments to improve performance by determining the optimal number of buses and cycles required for each office in the Establishment. We will also present a case study in which the proposed model was applied to the non-Arab Africa Establishment shuttle service. At the same time, we will include the mechanism for extracting the information required in the tested model from the considerably large GPS data of 20,000+ buses in Hajj 2018.

The Impact of Religious Tourists’ Satisfaction With Hajj Services on Their Experience at the Sacred Places in Saudi Arabia

“…Given the hot weather in Mecca, religious tourists (particularly the elderly) might benefit from comfortable and air-conditioned means of transportation. The tour offices are responsible for the transportation of pilgrims, which implies a real challenge in pilgrim transportation safely, comfortably and quickly between the sacred sites (Hussain et al, 2021). This is because the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have placed an additional spatial and temporal burden on performing the rituals in a timely manner.…”

Optimizing Shuttle-Bus Systems in Mega-Events using Computer Modeling: A Case Study of Pilgrims' Transportation System

“…In study [8,9], a tool was created to assist in planning the shuttle-bus service operation configuration during Hajj using an analytical approach. With the use of this tool, the shuttle service between Arafat and Muzdalifa can be run with the fewest possible buses and cycles.…”

Urban Logistics Associated With Religious Tourism: The Case of the Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

“…Mecca welcomes millions of Muslims from all over the world in an increasingly significant volumetric challenge. As mentioned, beyond the creation of a metro, Saudi Arabia has introduced buses that meet the highest ecological standards, but also public transportation shuttles, all of which contribute to the best possible service to the holy places (optimal number of buses and shuttles) (Hussain et al, 2021;Owaidah et al, 2023). Government authorities have formalized innovative ways, methods, and solutions to improve the functioning of urban logistics; by acquiring capacities and resources to improve its quality, operations are expected to be better managed, converging with a traditional supply chain management approach (Mwangola, 2018).…”