Mobility alternative selection for US automobiles potential evolution to autonomous vehicles

Abstract

Quantitative and multiple-criteria decision-making analysis are performed to rank transportation modes for consumer needs. Each need is assumed to have fourteen mobility attributes. A consumer in 2018 can own a vehicle, call a taxi or hail ride. The quantitative analysis is cost per mile. For owning a vehicle, lifecycle cost includes vehicle price, registration and insurance charges, operating expenses, and financing. For taxi or hailing service, cost includes a base fare, booking fee, per minute charge and per mile charges. The cost to own a vehicle is about $1.43/mile while that for a taxi or a ride-hailing is around $3 per mile. For qualitative evaluation, mobility attributes are ranked for each transportation need, and weights of each attributes are calculated using linear programming. This evaluation shows owning an internal combustion engine is the most preferred transportation mode while ride hailing is the least preferred option in 2018. This study can be used to identify mobility alternatives given consumer needs in future as automobiles evolve to autonomous vehicles.