First-Mile-Last-Mile Collector-Distributor System using Shared Autonomous Mobility

Abstract

High costs of owning fully-automated or autonomous vehicles (AVs) will fuel the demand for shared mobility, with zero driver costs. Although sharing sounds good for the transport system, congestion can easily rise without adequate policy measures. Many or all public transit lines will continue to exist, and carefully-designed policies can be implemented to make good use of fixed public assets, like commuter- and light-rail lines. In this study, a shared AV (SAV) fleet is analyzed as a potential solution to the first-mile-last-mile (FMLM) problem for access to and from public transit. Essentially, SAVs are analyzed as collector-distributor systems for these mass-movers and compared with a door-to-door (D2D) service. Results from an agent-based simulation of Austin, Texas, show that SAVs have the potential to help solve FMLM transit problems when fare benefits are provided to transit users. Restricting SAV use for FMLM trips increases transit coverage, lowers average access and egress walking distance, and shifts demand away from park-and-ride and long walk trips. When SAVs are available for both D2D use and FMLM trips, high SAV fares help maintain transit demand, without which the transit demand may decrease significantly, affecting the transit supply and the overall system reliability. Policy makers and planners should be wary of this shift away from transit and may be able to increase transit usage using policies tested in this study.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Shaheen

S. A.

Coehn

Zohdy

Shared Mobility: Current Practices and Guiding Principles. Publication FHWA-HOP-16-022. Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., 2016.

Krueger

Rashidi

T. H.

Rose

J. M.

Preferences for Shared Autonomous Vehicles. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 69, 2016, pp. 343–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2016.06.015.

Kockelman

Boyles

Claudel

Stone

Loftus-Otway

Sturgeon

Sharon

Gurumurthy

K. M.

Huang

Simoni

Lei

Patel

Mohamed

Liu

Yarmohammadi

Thorn

Wagner

Stewart

Albert

Hanna

Phase 2 – Bringing Smart Transport to Texans: Ensuring the Benefits of a Connected and Autonomous Transport System in Texas. Publication FHWA/TX-18/0-6838-3. Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, 2018.

Fagnant

D. J.

Kockelman

K. M.

Bansal

Operations of Shared Autonomous Vehicle Fleet for Austin, Texas, Market. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2015. 2536: 98–106.

Levin

M. W.

Kockelman

K. M.

Boyles

S. D.

A General Framework for Modeling Shared Autonomous Vehicles with Dynamic Network-Loading and Dynamic Ride-Sharing Application. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, Vol. 64, 2017, pp. 373–383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2017.04.006.

Simoni

M. D.

Kockelman

K. M.

Gurumurthy

K. M.

Bischoff

Congestion Pricing in a World of Self-Driving Vehicles: An Analysis of Different Strategies in Alternative Future Scenarios. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 98, 2019, pp. 167–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2018.11.002.

Agatz

Erera

A. L.

Savelsbergh

M. W. P.

Wang

Dynamic Ride-Sharing: A Simulation Study in Metro Atlanta. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 17, 2011, pp. 532–550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.530.

Fagnant

D. J.

Kockelman

K. M.

Dynamic Ride-Sharing and Fleet Sizing for a System of Shared Autonomous Vehicles in Austin, Texas. Transportation, Vol. 45, No. 1, 2018, pp. 143–158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-016-9729-z.

Gurumurthy

K. M.

Kockelman

K. M.

Analyzing the Dynamic Ride-Sharing Potential for Shared Autonomous Vehicle Fleets using Cellphone Data from Orlando, Florida. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, Vol. 71, 2018, pp. 177–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2018.05.008.

10.

Gurumurthy

K. M.

Kockelman

K. M.

Simoni

M. D.

Benefits and Costs of Ride-Sharing in Shared Automated Vehicles across Austin, Texas: Opportunities for Congestion Pricing. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019. 2673: 548–556.

11.

Kittelson & Associates, Inc., Parsons Brinckerhoff; KFH Group, Inc., and Texas A&M Transportation Institute. TCRP Report 165: Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual, Third Edition. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2013.

12.

El-Geneidy

Grimsrud

Wasfi

Tétreault

Surprenant-Legault

New Evidence on Walking Distances to Transit Stops: Identifying Redundancies and Gaps using Variable Service Areas. Transportation, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2014, pp. 193–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-013-9508-z.

13.

Wang

Odoni

Approximating the Performance of a “Last Mile” Transportation System. Transportation Science, Vol. 50, No. 2, 2016, pp. 659–675. https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.2014.0553.

14.

Liu

Jia

Cheng

Solving the Last Mile Problem: Ensure the Success of Public Bicycle System in Beijing. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 43, 2012, pp. 73–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.04.079.

15.

Kim

Ulfarsson

G. F.

Todd Hennessy

Analysis of Light Rail Rider Travel Behavior: Impacts of Individual, Built Environment, and Crime Characteristics on Transit Access. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 41, No. 6, 2007, pp. 511–522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2006.11.001.

16.

Martin

Shaheen

The Impact of Carsharing on Public Transit and Non-Motorized Travel: An Exploration of North American Carsharing Survey Data. Energies, Vol. 4, No. 11, 2011, pp. 2094–2114. https://doi.org/10.3390/en4112094.

17.

Westervelt

Huang

Schank

Borgman

Fuhrer

Peppard

Narula-Woods

UpRouted: Exploring Microtransit in The United States. ENO Center for Transportation, 2018.

18.

Reck

D. J.

Axhausen

K. W.

Subsidized Ridesourcing for the First/Last Mile: How Valuable for Whom?

Presented at 99th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2020.

19.

Shaheen

Chan

Mobility and the Sharing Economy: Potential to Facilitate the First- and Last-Mile Public Transit Connections. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/alex/benv/2016/00000042/00000004/art00005. Accessed July 24, 2019.

20.

Liang

de A. Correia

G. H.

van Arem

Optimizing the Service Area and Trip Selection of an Electric Automated Taxi System Used for the Last Mile of Train Trips. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Vol. 93, 2016, pp. 115–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2016.05.006.

21.

Scheltes

de Almeida Correia

G. H.

Exploring the Use of Automated Vehicles as Last Mile Connection of Train Trips through an Agent-Based Simulation Model: An Application to Delft, Netherlands. International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2017, pp. 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijtst.2017.05.004.

22.

Shen

Zhang

Zhao

Integrating Shared Autonomous Vehicle in Public Transportation System: A Supply-Side Simulation of the First-Mile Service in Singapore. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 113, 2018, pp. 125–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2018.04.004.

23.

Farhan

Chen

T. D.

Zhang

Leveraging Shared Autonomous Electric Vehicles for First/Last Mile Mobility. Presented at 97th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2018.

24.

Moorthy

De Kleine

Good

Keoleian

Lewis

Shared Autonomous Vehicles as a Sustainable Solution to the Last Mile Problem: A Case Study of Ann Arbor-Detroit Area. SAE International Journal of Passenger Cars – Electronic and Electrical Systems, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2017. https://doi.org/10.4271/2017-01-1276.

25.

Stiglic

Agatz

Savelsbergh

Gradisar

Enhancing Urban Mobility: Integrating Ride-Sharing and Public Transit. Computers & Operations Research, Vol. 90, 2018, pp. 12–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cor.2017.08.016.

26.

Alemi

Rodier

Simulation of Ridesourcing using Agent-Based Demand and Supply Models Regional: Potential Market Demand for First Mile Transit Travel and Reduction in Vehicle Miles Traveled in the San Francisco Bay Area. Presented at 97th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2018.

27.

Rodier

Jaller

Pourrahmani

Bischoff

Freedman

Pahwa

Automated Vehicle Scenarios: Simulation of System-Level Travel Effects using Agent-Based Demand and Supply Models in the San Francisco Bay Area. California Department of Transportation, 2018.

28.

Pinto

H. K. R.

Hyland

M. F.

Verbas

İ. Ö.

Mahmassani

H. S.

Integrated Mode Choice and Dynamic Traveler Assignment-Simulation Framework to Assess the Impact of a Suburban First-Mile Shared Autonomous Vehicle Fleet Service on Transit Demand. Presented at 97th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2018.

29.

Pinto

H. K. R. F.

Hyland

M. F.

Mahmassani

H. S.

Verbas

I. Ö.

Joint Design of Multimodal Transit Networks and Shared Autonomous Mobility Fleets. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 113, 2020, pp. 2–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2019.06.010.

30.

Huang

Kockelman

Garikapati

Zhu

Young

Use of Shared Automated Vehicles for First-Mile Last-Mile Service: Micro-Simulation of Rail-Transit Connections in Austin, Texas. Presented at 99th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2020.

31.

Sieber

Ruch

Hörl

Axhausen

K. W.

Frazzoli

Improved Public Transportation in Rural Areas with Self-Driving Cars: A Study on the Operation of Swiss Train Lines. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 134, 2020, pp. 35–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2020.01.020.

32.

Leich

Bischoff

Should Autonomous Shared Taxis Replace Buses? A Simulation Study. Transportation Research Procedia, Vol. 41, 2019, pp. 450–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2019.09.076.

33.

Horni

Nagel

Axhausen

K. W.

The Multi-Agent Transport Simulation MATSim. Ubiquity Press, London, 2016.

34.

Liu

Kockelman

K. M.

Bösch

P. M.

Ciari

Tracking a System of Shared Autonomous Vehicles across the Austin, Texas Network using Agent-Based Simulation. Transportation, Vol. 44, No. 6, 2017, pp. 1261–1278. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-017-9811-1.

35.

Poletti

Bösch

P. M.

Ciari

Axhausen

K. W.

Public Transit Route Mapping for Large-Scale Multimodal Networks. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, Vol. 6, No. 9, 2017, p. 268. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi6090268.

36.

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Metro Performance Dashboard: Ridership. https://capmetro.org/ridership-stats/. Accessed July 21, 2019.

37.

Perone

J. S.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Fare-Free Transit Policy. Publication NCTR-473-133. National Center for Transportation Research, 2002.