Abstract
The maturing of autonomous driving technology in recent years has led to several pilot projects and the initial integration of autonomous pods and buses into the public transport (PT) system. An emerging field of interest is the design of public transport networks operating autonomous buses and the potential to attract higher levels of travel demand. In this work a multi-objective optimization and multi-agent simulation framework is developed to study potential changes in the network design and frequency settings compared to conventional PT systems when autonomous vehicles (AV) systems are deployed on fixed-route networks. During the optimization process multiple deployment scenarios (network configurations and service frequency) are evaluated and optimized considering the operator cost, user cost and infrastructure preparation costs of the system. User-focused network design and operator-focused network design are studied for a real-world urban area in Sweden. The results provide insights into the network design and level of service implications brought about by the deployment of autonomous bus (AB) when those are integrated in route-based PT systems. We show that the deployment of autonomous buses result with a network design that increases service ridership. In the context of our case study this increase is likely to primarily substitute walking.
Highlights
The current technological advances in the field of autonomous buses (AB) allow for tests and operations of AB on public roads
We investigate how the network design, the infrastructure, operating and traveler costs are affected by changed supply characteristics induced by AB
Our findings suggest that public transport networks, operated with AB or conventional buses, consisting of a larger number of lines serving the same geographical unit lead to a lower level of service for the user
Summary
The current technological advances in the field of autonomous buses (AB) allow for tests and operations of AB on public roads These pilot studies target investigations of user acceptance and vehicle operation of AB in transport systems. Eluru and Choudhury (2019) present eight different studies discussing potential impacts of autonomous vehicles on trip generation, vehicle-miles traveled and other transport related metrics. All these studies assume demand-responsive autonomous vehicles no line-based operations. In contrast to these studies, we elaborate more holistically on the impacts of autonomous vehicles on the combined operator, infrastructure and user costs on fixed-line services, which deepens the understanding of system level impacts due to AB deployment. We can get insights in how the reduction of operator costs in case of AB deployment effects the level of service for public transport users
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