Accessibilities by shared autonomous vehicles under different regulatory scenarios

Abstract

The introduction of new mobility technologies and systems have historically shaped the patterns of settlements. With the advent of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and the implementation of ubiquitous mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) systems, it can be argued that there may be another fundamental change in terms of people's travel. Given the interaction of land use and transport, a stronger reliance of travel on AVs has the potential to change the layout of cities. In this study, we use accessibility measures to quantify and compare the utility that such services offer for citizens in an exemplaric case study using the transport simulation model MATSim. MATSim allows both (1) to model demand-response transit services and (2) to compute dynamic accessibilities based on various modes of transport. This study brings these functionalities together for the first time to assess such services by a measure that resembles the perspective of the individual citizen. We find that the changes in the operational model of the SAV (shared autonomous vehicle) fleet has significant effect on accessibilities provided by SAVs. Especially in a setup were a fleet is expected to fulfill a basic needs supply, the results are of high relevance under equity aspects.