Mathematical Models and Applications

A special issue of Mathematics (ISSN 2227-7390). This special issue belongs to the section "E: Applied Mathematics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 December 2026 | Viewed by 364

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo 106-0032, Japan
Interests: mathematical model analyses for optimal investment planning in electric power industries; electric tariff theory and mathematical modelling approach for marginal cost pricing; mathematical programming model analyses for energy and environmental problems; spatial interaction model analyses for inter-regional commodity flow phenomena; optimal public facility location problems and mathematical modelling approaches

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Operations research (OR) is a scientific approach which can be used to address a variety of the societal problems that we currently face in modern society. OR originates from the process of making optimal strategic decisions in World War II, originally being applied in the military sector, and since has been actively applied in the private sector by managers to make decisions regarding maximizing profit, revenue, efficiency, etc., minimizing cost, losses, etc., and maximizing various quantities such as revenue minus cost, the ratio of profit and cost, and so on. We now believe it is time for OR to be applied more actively and positively in the public sector, in which there are many complex unsolved problems, including in areas such as transportation, energy, the environment, agriculture, education, national security, social welfare, etc. In general, these problems are so complex because the systems involved are very complicated, containing many different components. In applying OR theory and methodologies, it is common practice to investigate data carefully first and then apply mathematical models and simulation techniques to find an optimal solution for the corresponding problem.

In this Special Issue of Mathematics, we will present the results of various research works obtained by applying mathematical approaches and OR techniques, focusing on mathematical modeling techniques to solve societal problems. We believe that these research results will be useful for both researchers and practitioners in addressing and solving complex societal problems.

Dr. Tatsuo Oyama
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • mathematical modeling
  • operations research

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

29 pages, 1829 KB  
Article
Applying Multivariate Analysis to Evaluate the Performance of Railway Utility Activities in Japan
by Kumudumali M. L. U. Piyasena and Tatsuo Oyama
Mathematics 2026, 14(11), 1916; https://doi.org/10.3390/math14111916 - 1 Jun 2026
Viewed by 140
Abstract
Railway utilities play a vital role as social infrastructure, i.e., as an essential part of ordinary citizens’ lives. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the performance of railway utility activities in Japan from three perspectives: financial management, facility operations, and human resources. [...] Read more.
Railway utilities play a vital role as social infrastructure, i.e., as an essential part of ordinary citizens’ lives. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the performance of railway utility activities in Japan from three perspectives: financial management, facility operations, and human resources. Examining the relationship between daily passenger kilometers and passenger kilometers across six JR (Japan Railways) companies, we found that they can be divided into two groups: Group A, located in urban areas with higher passenger demand, and Group B, located in rural areas with lower passenger demand. We further found that the passenger demand of JR companies can be captured by a single nonlinear mathematical model. We used this mathematical model to investigate passenger demand composition in terms of commuters/non-commuters and then proposed strategies to increase passenger demand. We applied a cluster analysis technique to classify the set of JR and major private railway companies into four clusters, characterizing the performance of the railway utilities within each cluster and highlighting similarities and differences among them. Then, we applied principal component analysis and selected three principal components to explain the performance of Japanese railway utility activities. We found that the first component represents an axis corresponding to comprehensive factors that improve the performance of railway utilities from the viewpoints of both revenue and financial balance, while the second component represents an axis related to the profit and cost for railway utilities from the viewpoint of financial balance. Through multivariate regression model analyses, we found factors that increase total revenue from Japanese railway utility activities: higher passenger numbers, longer passenger transport distance, and fewer staff. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mathematical Models and Applications)
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