Planning and Dynamic Management of Autonomous Modular Mobility Services

Shen, Shiyu; Zhai, Yuhui; Ouyang, Yanfeng

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125177 Copy

Description

Title

Planning and Dynamic Management of Autonomous Modular Mobility Services

Author(s)

• Shen, Shiyu
• Zhai, Yuhui
• Ouyang, Yanfeng

Issue Date

2024-12

Keyword(s)

• Random Bipartite Matching
• Discrete Networks
• Shared Mobility
• Vehicle Swapping
• Modular Chassis
• Autonomous Vehicle

Abstract

As we enter the next era of autonomous driving, robo-vehicles (which serve as low-cost and fully compliant drivers) are replacing conventional chauffeured services in the mobility market. During just the last few years, companies like Waymo Inc. and Cruise Inc. have already offered fully driverless robo-taxi services to the general public in cities like Phoenix and San Francisco. The rapid evolution of autonomous vehicles is anticipated to reshape the shared mobility market very soon. This project aims to address the following open questions. At the operational level, how should modular units be allocated across multiple categories of customers (e.g., passenger and freight cabins), and how should they be matched in real time? How do we enhance system efficiency by dynamic relocation and swap of modular chassis? At the strategic or tactical level, how should the rolling stock resources (modular chassis, passenger and freight cabins) be planned, and where shall chassis swapping sites be located? How could any potential transaction cost for a chassis swap, such as the time required for a modular chassis to be assembled with a customized cabin, affect the optimal strategy and system performance? How can customer priorities (e.g., passenger vs. freight) affect system performance, and how can service providers manage demand by specific pricing scheme or discriminative customer service strategies? We conducted the following research tasks: (i) analytically derived systems of implicit nonlinear equations in the closed form, including a set of differential equations, to analyze the modular autonomous mobility system and to estimate the expected system performance in the steady state; (ii) conducted a series of agent-based simulation experiments to verify the accuracy of the proposed analytical formulas and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed modular chassis services; and (iii) designed policy instruments to enhance transportation system performance.

Publisher

Illinois Center for Transportation/Center for Connected and Automated Transportation

Has Part

https://doi.org/10.36501/0197-9191/24-029

Series/Report Name or Number

ICT-24-029

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

Grant No. 69A3552348301

Copyright and License Information

No restrictions. This document is available through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161.

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