The Effect of the Integrated Service Mode and Travel Time Uncertainty on Taxis Network Equilibrium

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the trip mode choice problem by using cumulative prospect theory (CPT) rather than utility maximization from the network uncertainty perspective and evaluates the effect of the integrated service mode on taxi network equilibrium. The integrated service mode means taxis either are actively moving through traffic zones to pick up customers (cruising mode) or are queued at the center of a zone waiting for customers (dispatch mode). Based on this, CPT models are adopted to analyze the choice of customers’ trip mode. The travel time uncertainty of the network and the applicability of CPT are considered first, and the Nested Logit model was used to complete the trip mode split problem. Further, several relevant relationships including supply-demand equilibrium, network conditions, taxi behavior, and customer behavior perspectives were analyzed with respect to the integrated mode. Moreover, a network equilibrium model was established and its algorithm was designed. Finally, this paper presented a numerical example and discussed the taxi network equilibrium’s characteristic after introducing the integrated service mode.