Autonomous Minibus Service With Semi-on-Demand Routes in Grid Networks

Abstract

This paper investigates the potential of autonomous minibuses which take on-demand directional routes for pick-up and drop-off in a grid network of wider area with low density, followed by fixed routes in areas with greater demand. Mathematical formulation for generalized costs demonstrates its benefits, with indicators proposed to select existing bus routes for conversion with the options of zonal express and parallel routes. Simulations on modeled scenarios and case studies with bus routes in Chicago show reductions in both passenger costs and generalized costs compared with existing fixed-route bus services between suburban areas and the central business district.

Keywords

planning and analysis general mathematical modeling networks optimization systems modeling transportation supply public transportation innovative public transportation services and technologies mobility services shared transit

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Errico

Crainic

T. G.

Malucelli

Nonato

The Single-Line Design Problem for Demand-Adaptive Transit Systems: A Modeling Framework and Decomposition Approach for the Stationary-Demand Case. Transportation Science, Vol. 55, No. 6, 2021, pp. 1300–1321. https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.2021.1062.

Errico

Crainic

T. G.

Malucelli

Nonato

A Survey on Planning Semi-Flexible Transit Systems: Methodological Issues and a Unifying Framework. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 36, 2013, pp. 324–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2013.08.010.

Frei

C. A.

User-Driven Demand Adaptive Transit: Enhancing the User Experience Through Flexible Transit for Low-Density Communities. PhD dissertation. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 2015, p. 15.

Cortés

C. E.

Jayakrishnan

Design and Operational Concepts of High-Coverage Point-to-Point Transit System. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2002. 1783: 178–187.

Nourbakhsh

S. M.

Ouyang

A Structured Flexible Transit System for Low Demand Areas. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Vol. 46, No. 1, 2012, pp. 204–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trb.2011.07.014.

Daganzo

C. F.

Structure of Competitive Transit Networks. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Vol. 44, No. 4, 2010, pp. 434–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trb.2009.11.001.

Sayarshad

H. R.

Gao

H. O.

Optimizing Dynamic Switching Between Fixed and Flexible Transit Services With an Idle-Vehicle Relocation Strategy and Reductions in Emissions. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 135, 2020, pp. 198–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2020.03.006.

Chen

P. W.

Nie

Y. M.

Analysis of an Idealized System of Demand Adaptive Paired-Line Hybrid Transit. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Vol. 102, 2017, pp. 38–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trb.2017.05.004.

Calabrò

Araldo

Seshadri

Inturri

Ben-Akiva

Integrating Fixed and Demand-Responsive Transportation for Flexible Transit Network Design. Presented at 100th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2021.

10.

Narayanan

Chaniotakis

Antoniou

Shared Autonomous Vehicle Services: A Comprehensive Review. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 111, 2020, pp. 255–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2019.12.008.

11.

Alonso-Mora

Samaranayake

Wallar

Frazzoli

Rus

On-Demand High-Capacity Ride-Sharing via Dynamic Trip-Vehicle Assignment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 114, No. 3, 2017, pp. 462–467. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1611675114.

12.

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.

13.

Winter

Cats

Correia

van Arem

Performance Analysis and Fleet Requirements of Automated Demand-Responsive Transport Systems as an Urban Public Transport Service. International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2018, pp. 151–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijtst.2018.04.004.

14.

Dai

Liu

X. C.

Chen

Joint Optimization of Scheduling and Capacity for Mixed Traffic With Autonomous and Human-Driven Buses: A Dynamic Programming Approach. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 114, 2020, pp. 598–619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2020.03.001.

15.

Cao

Ceder

A. A.

Autonomous Shuttle Bus Service Timetabling and Vehicle Scheduling Using Skip-Stop Tactic. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 102, 2019, pp. 370–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2019.03.018.

16.

Zhai

Yang

Shen

Assessing the Impacts of Autonomous Bus-on-Demand Based on Agent-Based Simulation: A Case Study of Fuyang, Zhejiang, China. Journal of Advanced Transportation, Vol. 2020, 2020, p. e7981791. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jat/2020/7981791/. Accessed January 15, 2021.

17.

Salonen

A. O.

Haavisto

Towards Autonomous Transportation. Passengers’ Experiences, Perceptions and Feelings in a Driverless Shuttle Bus in Finland. Sustainability, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2019, P. 588. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030588.

18.

Basu

Araldo

Akkinepally

A. P.

Nahmias Biran

B. H.

Basak

Seshadri

Deshmukh

Kumar

Azevedo

C. L.

Ben-Akiva

Automated Mobility-on-Demand vs. Mass Transit: A Multi-Modal Activity-Driven Agent-Based Simulation Approach. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2018. 2672: 608–618.

19.

Bösch

P. M.

Becker

Axhausen

K. W.

Cost-Based Analysis of Autonomous Mobility Services. Transport Policy, Vol. 64, 2018, pp. 76–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2017.09.005.

20.

Pigeon

Alauzet

Paire-Ficout

Factors of Acceptability, Acceptance and Usage for Non-Rail Autonomous Public Transport Vehicles: A Systematic Literature Review. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, Vol. 81, 2021, pp. 251–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2021.06.008.

21.

Bernhard

Oberfeld

Hoffmann

Weismüller

Hecht

User Acceptance of Automated Public Transport: Valence of an Autonomous Minibus Experience. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, Vol. 70, 2020, pp. 109–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2020.02.008.

22.

Gschwender

Jara-Díaz

Bravo

Feeder-Trunk or Direct Lines? Economies of Density, Transfer Costs and Transit Structure in an Urban Context. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 88, 2016, pp. 209–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.03.001.

23.

Zhang

Wang

D. Z. W.

Meng

Which Service is Better on a Linear Travel Corridor: Park & Ride or On-Demand Public Bus?

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 118, 2018, pp. 803–818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2018.10.003.

24.

Edwards

Watkins

Comparing Fixed-Route and Demand-Responsive Feeder Transit Systems in Real-World Settings. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2013. 2352: 128–135.

25.

Tong

L. C.

Zhou

Liu

Zhou

Customized Bus Service Design for Jointly Optimizing Passenger-to-Vehicle Assignment and Vehicle Routing. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 85, 2017, pp. 451–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2017.09.022.

26.

Newell

G. F.

Some Issues Relating to the Optimal Design of Bus Routes. Transportation Science, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1979, pp. 20–35. https://doi.org/10.1287/trsc.13.1.20.

27.

Wardman

Public Transport Values of Time. Transport Policy, Vol. 11, No. 4, 2004, pp. 363–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2004.05.001.

28.

U.S. Census Bureau. Median Household Income in the United States. FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA646N. Accessed February 28, 2021.

29.

U.S. Department of Transportation. The Value of Travel Time Savings: Departmental Guidance for Conducting Economic Evaluations Revision 2 (2016 Update). https://www.transportation.gov/office-policy/transportation-policy/revised-departmental-guidance-valuation-travel-time-economic. Accessed February 27, 2021.

30.

Bus Route and Schedule Planning Guidelines. Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1980.

31.

Chicago Transit Authority. CTA - Ridership - Avg. Weekday Bus Stop Boardings in October 2012. https://data.cityofchicago.org/Transportation/CTA-Ridership-Avg-Weekday-Bus-Stop-Boardings-in-Oc/mq3i-nnqe. Accessed January 31, 2021.

32.

Chicago Transit Authority. Service Standards. https://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/6/servicestandards129737.pdf. Accessed March 14, 2021.

33.

TerraMetrics and NOAA. Google Earth Pro 7.3.3.7786. https://www.google.com/earth/index.html. Accessed March 15, 2021.

34.

Chicago Transit Authority. CTA - Bus Routes - Kml. https://data.cityofchicago.org/Transportation/CTA-Bus-Routes-kml/rytz-fq6y. Accessed March 15, 2021.

35.

Chicago Transit Authority. CTA - Bus Stops - Kml. https://data.cityofchicago.org/Transportation/CTA-Bus-Stops-kml/84eu-buny. Accessed March 15, 2021.