| Summary: | Interest in promoting sustainable transportation continues to rise, and as a result, adopting more equitable, environmentally sustainable mobility is necessary. In the next decades, automated vehicles (AVs) could transform the transport system. Depending on how AVs are adopted, the impacts may differ. The existing literature has demonstrated that using automated buses (ABs) as part of public transit systems shows greater potential for mobility equity and sustainability than single-occupancy AVs. Despite the growing use of automation in the public transit industry, less interest has been given to research on and development of fixed-route ABs than to on-demand AVs.
To fill this gap, this research focuses on fixed-route ABs and evaluates their impacts on transportation equity and sustainability for different income groups and density areas. The study analyzes travel surveys and then simulates the impact of ABs on travel-to-work mode choices. In particular, the research explores the mode preferences of residents in the Metro Boston Area based on the Massachusetts Travel Survey of 2011 and builds mode choice models that incorporate income strata differences. This study introduces ABs as a new mode with lower travel time (via higher frequency services and denser bus networks). The models simulate changes in mode choices in scenarios that provide different AB services to different income and density groups. Finally, this research evaluates scenarios according to four qualities: effectiveness, equity, sustainability, and health.
The results show that the impacts of AB services vary across income and density groups. Providing AB services to low- and middle-income groups living in high- and middle-density areas, and on-demand small automated shuttles in high-density areas, might be the most balanced solution in terms of the four qualities. Overall, this research will support planning and policy decision-making to ensure that emerging AV technology leads to the most equitable and sustainable outcomes.
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