Exploring the use of automated vehicles as last mile connection of train trips through an agent-based simulation model: An application to Delft, Netherlands
The last mile in a public transport trip is known to bring a large disutility for passengers, because the conventional transport modes for this stage of the trip can, in many cases, be rather slow, inflexible and not provide a seamless experience to passengers. Fully automated vehicles (AVs), that i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2017-06-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2046043016300296 |
| _version_ | 1797704973417447424 |
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| author | Arthur Scheltes Gonçalo Homem de Almeida Correia |
| author_facet | Arthur Scheltes Gonçalo Homem de Almeida Correia |
| author_sort | Arthur Scheltes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The last mile in a public transport trip is known to bring a large disutility for passengers, because the conventional transport modes for this stage of the trip can, in many cases, be rather slow, inflexible and not provide a seamless experience to passengers. Fully automated vehicles (AVs), that is, those which do not need a driver, could act as a first mile/last mile connection to mass public transport modes. In this paper, we study a system that we call Automated Last-Mile Transport (ALMT), which consists of a fleet of small, fully automated, electric vehicles to improve the last mile performance of a trip done in a train. An agent-based simulation model was proposed for the ALMT whereby a dispatching algorithm distributes travel requests amongst the available vehicles using a FIFO sequence and selects a vehicle based on a set of specified control conditions (e.g. travel time to reach a requesting passenger). The model was applied to the case-study of the connection between the train station Delft Zuid and the Technological Innovation Campus (Delft, The Netherlands) in order to test the methodology and understand the performance of the system in function of several operational parameters and demand scenarios. The most important conclusion from the baseline scenario was that the ALMT system was only able to compete with the walking mode and that additional measures were needed to increase the performance of the ALMT system in order to be competitive with cycling. Relocating empty vehicles or allowing pre-booking of vehicles led to a significant reduction in average waiting time, whilst allowing passengers to drive at a higher speed led to a large reduction in average travel time, whilst simultaneously reducing system capacity as energy use is increased. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T05:28:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1ca5dd5f30ba4d479100e88f5dbd2f16 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2046-0430 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T05:28:22Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology |
| spelling | doaj.art-1ca5dd5f30ba4d479100e88f5dbd2f162023-09-03T07:03:08ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology2046-04302017-06-0161284110.1016/j.ijtst.2017.05.004Exploring the use of automated vehicles as last mile connection of train trips through an agent-based simulation model: An application to Delft, NetherlandsArthur Scheltes0Gonçalo Homem de Almeida Correia1Goudappel Coffeng BV, P.O. Box 161, 7400 AD Deventer, The NetherlandsDepartment of Transport and Planning, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, 2600 GA Delft, The NetherlandsThe last mile in a public transport trip is known to bring a large disutility for passengers, because the conventional transport modes for this stage of the trip can, in many cases, be rather slow, inflexible and not provide a seamless experience to passengers. Fully automated vehicles (AVs), that is, those which do not need a driver, could act as a first mile/last mile connection to mass public transport modes. In this paper, we study a system that we call Automated Last-Mile Transport (ALMT), which consists of a fleet of small, fully automated, electric vehicles to improve the last mile performance of a trip done in a train. An agent-based simulation model was proposed for the ALMT whereby a dispatching algorithm distributes travel requests amongst the available vehicles using a FIFO sequence and selects a vehicle based on a set of specified control conditions (e.g. travel time to reach a requesting passenger). The model was applied to the case-study of the connection between the train station Delft Zuid and the Technological Innovation Campus (Delft, The Netherlands) in order to test the methodology and understand the performance of the system in function of several operational parameters and demand scenarios. The most important conclusion from the baseline scenario was that the ALMT system was only able to compete with the walking mode and that additional measures were needed to increase the performance of the ALMT system in order to be competitive with cycling. Relocating empty vehicles or allowing pre-booking of vehicles led to a significant reduction in average waiting time, whilst allowing passengers to drive at a higher speed led to a large reduction in average travel time, whilst simultaneously reducing system capacity as energy use is increased.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2046043016300296Automatic vehiclesPublic transportFeeder serviceAgent-based simulation |
| spellingShingle | Arthur Scheltes Gonçalo Homem de Almeida Correia Exploring the use of automated vehicles as last mile connection of train trips through an agent-based simulation model: An application to Delft, Netherlands International Journal of Transportation Science and Technology Automatic vehicles Public transport Feeder service Agent-based simulation |
| title | Exploring the use of automated vehicles as last mile connection of train trips through an agent-based simulation model: An application to Delft, Netherlands |
| title_full | Exploring the use of automated vehicles as last mile connection of train trips through an agent-based simulation model: An application to Delft, Netherlands |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the use of automated vehicles as last mile connection of train trips through an agent-based simulation model: An application to Delft, Netherlands |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the use of automated vehicles as last mile connection of train trips through an agent-based simulation model: An application to Delft, Netherlands |
| title_short | Exploring the use of automated vehicles as last mile connection of train trips through an agent-based simulation model: An application to Delft, Netherlands |
| title_sort | exploring the use of automated vehicles as last mile connection of train trips through an agent based simulation model an application to delft netherlands |
| topic | Automatic vehicles Public transport Feeder service Agent-based simulation |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2046043016300296 |
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