Abstract
On-demand mobility has existed for more than 100 years in the form of taxi systems. Comparatively recently, ride-hailing schemes have also grown to a significant mode share. Most types of such one-way mobility-on-demand systems allow drivers taking independent decisions. These systems are not or only partially coordinated. In a different operating mode, all decisions are coordinated by the operator, allowing for the optimization of certain metrics. Such a coordinated operation is also implied if human-driven vehicles are replaced by self-driving cars. This work quantifies the service quality and efficiency improvements resulting from the coordination of taxi fleets. Results based on high-fidelity transportation simulations and data sets of existing taxi systems are presented for the cities of San Francisco, Chicago, and Zurich. They show that fleet coordination can strongly improve the efficiency and service level of existing systems. Depending on the operator and the city’s preferences, empty vehicle distance driven and fleet sizes could be substantially reduced, or the wait times could be reduced while maintaining the current fleet sizes. The study provides clear evidence that full fleet coordination should be implemented in existing mobility-on-demand systems, even before the availability of self-driving cars.
Highlights
Once installed and set up, robots typically complete tasks in a steady quality and at unmatched speed. eir operating cost is relatively small compared to the amount of labor they perform. ey have virtually unlimited operating hours
In all cities except New York, Uber drivers show a time capacity utilization rate that is around 40% higher compared to conventional taxi services; their distance capacity utilization rate is between 41% and 59% higher
The results show that a service operating with 700 vehicles and the global bipartite matching policy (GBM) strategy could more than half the empty distance (–57%) at a waiting time of 5:36 min
Summary
Once installed and set up, robots typically complete tasks in a steady quality and at unmatched speed. eir operating cost is relatively small compared to the amount of labor they perform. ey have virtually unlimited operating hours. Ese are some of the reasons why automation, that is, replacing and supplementing humans with machines, has profound implications on the profitability and productivity of businesses. Ey have been present in cities for decades [6] with only minor changes in the way they are operated. At this point, robotic cab drivers in the form of self-driving cars are about to start operation [7] and promise to rapidly induce major changes. E principal reason is that robotic taxicabs have a very different behavior compared to human drivers. Us, selfdriving cars will immediately overturn the paradigm that each taxi decides on its own schedule, that is, where to wait An additional important feature is that the behavior of robotic cars will be fully determined by the operator. us, selfdriving cars will immediately overturn the paradigm that each taxi decides on its own schedule, that is, where to wait
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