Impact assessment of autonomous demand responsive transport as a link between urban and rural areas

Abstract

Disruptive developments in automated driving systems, new powertrain concepts and digital mobility are shaping changes in the way people move in rural and urban areas. In combination with these technical potentials, novel mobility concepts as for instance demand responsive transportation (DRT) can improve the everyday mobility of people in terms of both cost-efficiency and sustainability. Moreover, challenges related to demographic transitions and urbanisation can be addressed and negative developments mitigated. One potential application of DRT might be the connection of rural areas with the urban core.The following paper aims to evaluate the viability and feasibility of DRT systems in the interplay of rural and urban areas. The city of Bremerhaven and the immediate surrounding are selected as area of investigation and the agent-based modelling framework MATSim is used to simulate the inhabitant mobility behaviour. On this basis, the global operational costs are calculated for different scenarios, e.g. fully automated vehicles and various powertrain types. The results imply that automated DRT systems are applicable to reduce the economic and environmental costs of transportation when applied in the interplay of rural and urban areas.