Simulation of policies for automated ride-hailing and ride-pooling services

Abstract

Automated vehicles are becoming more prevalent, and the disruption they would cause in combination with ride-hailing and ride-pooling services could be tremendous. Therefore, this study investigates the impacts of ride-hailing and ride-pooling automated fleets in two Swiss cities, Chur and Zurich, and potential policy measures to steer their operations towards more sustainable solutions. We employ the results of the stated preference survey and combine the estimated mode-choice and car ownership model results with the agent-based simulation, MATSim, to simulate the impacts of various scenarios. We find that automated ride-hailing (aRH) and automated ride-pooling (aRP) services do not seem to be competing for the same demand. In general, these services would lead to a reduction in total travel time but an increase in total vehicle distance, which is more substantial in transit-oriented Zurich than in car-oriented Chur. Furthermore, we found that even though the proposed policies increased vehicle occupancy, they did not manage to overcome the increase in VKT, signaling the need for more targeted policies and operational strategies. Finally, we provide recommendations for transport policy and future research based on our findings.