A bi-level framework for heterogeneous fleet sizing of ride-hailing services considering an approximated mixed equilibrium between automated and non-automated traffic

Qiaochu Fan, J. Theresia van Essen and Gonçalo H.A. Correia

European Journal of Operational Research, 2024, vol. 315, issue 3, 879-898

Abstract: Ride-hailing companies will face the emergence and gradual expansion of AVs-only zones in urban areas where only automated vehicles (AVs) are allowed to circulate. When owning a mixed fleet (automated and conventional taxis), a ride-hailing company has to determine the optimal fleet size as a function of the gradually expanding coverage of AVs-only zones while taking into account interactions with privately-owned human-driven vehicles. To model this problem, we propose a bi-level framework in which the lower level captures the mixed routing behaviour of the vehicles and the endogenous traffic congestion, and the upper level determines fleet sizes to maximise profit. A parallel genetic algorithm is introduced to solve this bi-level framework, which is embedded with a tailored algorithm for solving the lower-level model. Numerical experiments are conducted on instances based on a small network and the network of the city of Delft, The Netherlands, to demonstrate the performance of the proposed solution method and investigate the impacts of AVs-only zones on traffic and ride-hailing operations. Results indicate that the fleet size of automated taxis increases nonlinearly with the expansion of the AVs-only zone while that of conventional taxis decreases as demand shifts from human-driven vehicles to automated taxis. The fleet size decision depends heavily on the fleet’s cost structure, the location and the distribution of parking depots. Furthermore, the existence of an AVs-only zone leads to detours for human-driven vehicles in the early stages, but it will bring major benefits by reducing congestion as its size increases.

Keywords: Routing; Fleet sizing; Approximated mixed equilibrium; AVs-only zone; Ride-hailing services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:315:y:2024:i:3:p:879-898

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2024.01.017

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