The shareability potential of ride-pooling under alternative spatial demand patterns

Abstract

In In this study, we set out to explore how various spatial patterns of travel demand drive the effectiveness of ride-pooling services. To do so, we generate a broad range of synthetic, yet plausible demand patterns. We experiment with the number of attraction centres, the dispersion of destinations around these centres, and the trip length distribution. We apply a strategic ride-pooling algorithm across the generated demand patterns to identify shareability potential using a series of metrics related to ridepooling. Our findings indicate that, under a fixed demand level, vehicle-hour reduction due to ride-pooling can range between 18 and 59%. These results depend on the concentration of travel destinations around the centre and the trip length distribution. Ride-pooling becomes more efficient when trips are longer and destinations are more concentrated. A shift from a monocentric to a polycentric demand pattern is found to have a limited impact on the prospects of ride-pooling.

KEYWORDS:

• Ride-hailing
• Ride-pooling
• Shared mobility
• Travel demand
• Shareability

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the CriticalMaaS project (grant number 804469), which is financed by the European Research Council and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://github.com/RafalKucharskiPK/ExMAS