On the performance of shared autonomous bicycles: A simulation study

Naroa Coretti Sanchez; Iñigo Martinez; Luis Alonso Pastor; Kent Larson

doi:10.1016/j.commtr.2022.100066

Communications in Transportation Research 2022, 2(1): 100066 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commtr.2022.100066

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Open Access | Issue | Published: 27 May 2022

On the performance of shared autonomous bicycles: A simulation study

Show Author's Information Hide Author's Information Naroa Coretti Sanchez^{^a^,¹}(

), Iñigo Martinez^{^b^,¹}, Luis Alonso Pastor^{^a}, Kent Larson^{^a}

MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA

University of Navarra, San Sebastian, Spain

¹ These authors contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:

Multi-agent systems, Autonomous vehicles, Future mobility, Micro-mobility, Bicycle-sharing systems, Agent-based simulation

Cite this article:

Coretti Sanchez N, Martinez I, Alonso Pastor L, et al. On the performance of shared autonomous bicycles: A simulation study. Communications in Transportation Research, 2022, 2(1): 100066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commtr.2022.100066

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Abstract

As society faces global challenges such as population growth and climate change, rethinking cities is now more imperative than ever. The design of cities can not be abstracted from the design of their mobility systems. Therefore, efficient solutions must be found to transport people and goods throughout the city efficiently and ecologically. An autonomous bicycle-sharing system would combine the most relevant benefits of vehicle-sharing, autonomy, and micro-mobility, increasing the efficiency and convenience of bicycle-sharing systems and incentivizing more people to bike and enjoy their cities in an environmentally friendly way. Due to the novelty of introducing autonomous driving technology into bicycle-sharing systems and their inherent complexity, there is a need to quantify the potential impact of autonomy on fleet performance and user experience. This paper presents the results of an agent-based simulation that provides an in-depth understanding of the fleet behavior of autonomous bicycle-sharing systems in realistic scenarios, including a rebalancing system based on demand prediction. In addition, this work describes the impact of different parameters on system efficiency and service quality. Finally, it quantifies the extent to which an autonomous system would outperform current station-based and dockless bicycle-sharing schemes. The obtained results show that with a fleet size three and a half times smaller than a station-based system and eight times smaller than a dockless system, an autonomous system can improve overall performance and user experience even with no rebalancing.

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On the performance of shared autonomous bicycles: A simulation study

Show Author's information Hide Author's Information Naroa Coretti Sanchez^{^a^,¹}(

), Iñigo Martinez^{^b^,¹}, Luis Alonso Pastor^{^a}, Kent Larson^{^a}

MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA

University of Navarra, San Sebastian, Spain

¹ These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Keywords: Multi-agent systems, Autonomous vehicles, Future mobility, Micro-mobility, Bicycle-sharing systems, Agent-based simulation

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Received: 09 March 2022

Revised: 27 April 2022

Accepted: 27 April 2022

Published: 27 May 2022

Issue date: December 2022

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).