Locating Method for Pick-up and Drop-off Spots for Shared Autonomous Vehicle-based Mobility Services

To provide safety to users and not disturb traffic flow, autonomous vehicles in shared on-demand mobility services cannot stop everywhere; thus, pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) spots must be dedicated or established for them. Our research objective is to propose a method to locate the PUDO spots for shared autonomous vehicle-based mobility services as this topic has been barely studied. The number of required PUDO spots is calculated, and the location is chosen considering the urban environment, walking radius, vehicle occupancy, and time for boarding and alighting among other parameters. Different from some methods applied to shared mobility, we consider the existing infrastructure (e.g., parking spaces) as potential locations for PUDO spots. The method is applied to a study case, demonstrating the applicability and providing the main findings: (i) the required number of PUDO spots decreases if willingness to walk increases; (ii) with a 3-min walking radius, 83% of curbside parking spaces can be repurposed, and 100% is reached with a 10-min walking radius; (iii) the minimum of 55% of curbside parking spaces can be repurposed with 10-min walking radius and without locating PUDO spots in private parking. Using our method, cities can determine the quantity of PUDO spots and their locations, being prepared in advance for the required changes in the existing infrastructure as well as the freed-up space to be repurposed.