Sensitivity Analysis for the Optimal Automated Demand Responsive Feeder Transit System

摘要

Emerging automated transit systems bring many benefits that enhance the performance of public transit systems. With the recent technological improvement of automated vehicles, it is expected that automated demand responsive transit and automated demand responsive feeder transit will improve mobility. One of the main concerns about the optimal automated demand responsive feeder transit operation is varying passenger demand. Obviously, changes in fleet size, capacity, and passenger demand alter the optimal operation and result in different passenger travel times and vehicle operating costs. This paper uses the optimal feeder bus routing algorithm previously developed by the authors. With it, the effects of the various passenger demand with various fleet sizes and capacities will be evaluated for the optimal automated demand responsive feeder bus operation based on the sample network. The results show that passenger demand and fleet size will have more impacts on the efficiency and profitability of a demand responsive feeder transit system for both automated and human-driven cases while vehicle capacity had less effect on total costs. The results of per-unit sensitivity analysis also confirmed automated vehicles can save costs when passengers demand increases.