{"title":"Agent-based simulations of shared automated vehicle operations: reflecting travel-party size, season and day-of-week demand variations","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s11116-023-10454-5","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>This paper explores the effects of day of week and season of year demand variations for shared rides, along with realistic travel party sizes, on shared autonomous vehicle (SAV) services across the Austin, Texas region. Using the agent-based POLARIS program, synthetic person-trips that reflect travel-party size (from one to four persons) and demand variations over days and months, as evident in the National Household Travel Survey data were simulated in each scenario over a 24 h travel day. Results show that realistic party sizes can bring considerable changes to SAV fleet performance, including up to 8.5% higher service rates (number of requests accepted within 15 min), 5 min shorter journey times (wait time + travel time), 28% higher vehicle occupancies on weekends, and roughly 4% lower empty fleet VMT. Weekend travel is most impacted by season of year, with weekday travel patterns looking more uniform (thanks to work and school trips). Various performance metrics for the Austin network, like total and empty VMT, change by up to 30% when considering realistic variations in party size and time of year. This paper underscores the value of recognizing day-to-day and month-to-month variations in travel demand, and the importance of agent-based model equations to reflect travel-party size. Such realism can help quantify SAV seat occupancies more accurately, highlighting the importance of shared mobility. However, it also creates demand and supply issues for operators that now need more information on party size to manage dynamic ride-sharing, or those that may wish to shift their fleet vehicles to other regions for special events to protect profits while offering reasonable wait times to customers throughout the year.</p>","PeriodicalId":49419,"journal":{"name":"Transportation","volume":"148 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Transportation","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-023-10454-5","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, CIVIL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This paper explores the effects of day of week and season of year demand variations for shared rides, along with realistic travel party sizes, on shared autonomous vehicle (SAV) services across the Austin, Texas region. Using the agent-based POLARIS program, synthetic person-trips that reflect travel-party size (from one to four persons) and demand variations over days and months, as evident in the National Household Travel Survey data were simulated in each scenario over a 24 h travel day. Results show that realistic party sizes can bring considerable changes to SAV fleet performance, including up to 8.5% higher service rates (number of requests accepted within 15 min), 5 min shorter journey times (wait time + travel time), 28% higher vehicle occupancies on weekends, and roughly 4% lower empty fleet VMT. Weekend travel is most impacted by season of year, with weekday travel patterns looking more uniform (thanks to work and school trips). Various performance metrics for the Austin network, like total and empty VMT, change by up to 30% when considering realistic variations in party size and time of year. This paper underscores the value of recognizing day-to-day and month-to-month variations in travel demand, and the importance of agent-based model equations to reflect travel-party size. Such realism can help quantify SAV seat occupancies more accurately, highlighting the importance of shared mobility. However, it also creates demand and supply issues for operators that now need more information on party size to manage dynamic ride-sharing, or those that may wish to shift their fleet vehicles to other regions for special events to protect profits while offering reasonable wait times to customers throughout the year.
期刊介绍:
In our first issue, published in 1972, we explained that this Journal is intended to promote the free and vigorous exchange of ideas and experience among the worldwide community actively concerned with transportation policy, planning and practice. That continues to be our mission, with a clear focus on topics concerned with research and practice in transportation policy and planning, around the world.
These four words, policy and planning, research and practice are our key words. While we have a particular focus on transportation policy analysis and travel behaviour in the context of ground transportation, we willingly consider all good quality papers that are highly relevant to transportation policy, planning and practice with a clear focus on innovation, on extending the international pool of knowledge and understanding. Our interest is not only with transportation policies - and systems and services – but also with their social, economic and environmental impacts, However, papers about the application of established procedures to, or the development of plans or policies for, specific locations are unlikely to prove acceptable unless they report experience which will be of real benefit those working elsewhere. Papers concerned with the engineering, safety and operational management of transportation systems are outside our scope.