Intelligent Transportation System Technology in a Shared Electric Vehicle Program

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To be successful, shared vehicle systems must be responsive, convenient, and easy to manage. By applying a variety of intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies (e.g., vehicle location and identification, dispatching, smart cards), these attributes can be achieved. Further, intelligent transportation technology is useful for collecting data on user behavior and vehicle usage. These data add to the understanding of shared vehicle systems and of how to design systems for the future. The University of California-Riverside (UC Riverside) and Honda Motor Company have implemented a shared electric vehicle system test bed named UCR IntelliShare, which consists of 15 shared electric vehicles, moving among three stations on and near the UC Riverside campus. The system, described here, uses highly developed ITS technology, including smart cards, touch-screen registration kiosks, vehicle monitoring and tracking hardware, and sophisticated management software. The system has operated since April 1999, and abundant data are collected every day. Preliminary results are provided, describing user behavior, vehicle operation, and many shared vehicle trip characteristics. These data are being used to study shared vehicle systems and to refine shared vehicle system simulation modeling tools. These tools can assist in designing other shared vehicle systems, greatly reducing the implementation risks and liabilities that may be associated with future, full-scale shared vehicle system implementations.