A paper published in the Journal of the American Planning Association argues that ride pooling services will have greater impact than autonomous vehicles on traffic congestion reduction.
Written by researcher Louis Merlin at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), the paper finds that simulation research into automated vehicle ride-hailing systems indicates greater ride pooling may be the key to major improvements in transportation sustainability.
Merlin, paper author and an assistant professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning within FAU’s College for Design and Social Inquiry, said: “Pooled-ride services will help to address some of the transportation system’s most intractable issues and offer affordable flexibility to those who do not own a vehicle or cannot drive, while reducing congestion at the same time.
“The key to successful pooled-ride services is to manage a large number of travel requests centrally, which results in fewer vehicles as well as reduced vehicle miles, travel costs, environmental impacts and congestion.”
According to the paper, mathematical simulation research shows that the potential for two-passenger ride pooling is close to 100% of trips in most cities as long as the trip demand density is at least 6.5 trips per hour per square kilometre.
“Sharing rides reduces travel costs for obvious reasons like splitting the cost across two or more parties,” said Merlin. “But it goes beyond just those cost savings.
“When a passenger agrees to a pooled ride, it allows the transportation service provider to economise by using a smaller fleet, substantially reducing capital costs.”
Merlin also believes that pooled-ride services may help to reduce environmental impacts. According to the paper, a pooled ride-hailing service with a fuel-efficient vehicle and an average occupancy of two passengers offers an energy efficiency improvement of 66.5% over conventional private vehicles.
The paper also states that pooled-ride services could be integrated with public transit using human drivers and with existing technologies. However, due to strong economies of scale, Merlin believes that pooled-ride services require a significant level of market penetration in a concentrated area before substantial sustainability benefits are realised.
“The idea of ride-sharing is a complex social issue involving concerns such as safety, privacy and convenience,” said Merlin. “The willingness of people to pool rides depends upon establishing norms of behaviour and developing systems that enable people to feel safe and comfortable.”
