19th International Symposium on Transportation and Traffic Theory Dynamic Ride-Sharing: a Simulation Study in Metro Atlanta

AbstractSmartphone technology enables dynamic ride-sharing systems that bring together people with similar itinerariesand time schedules to share rides on short-notice. This paper considers the problem of matching drivers and ridersin this dynamic setting. We develop optimization-based approaches that aim at minimizing the total system-widevehicle miles incurred by system users, and their individual travel costs. To assess the merits of our methods wepresent a simulation study based on 2008 travel demand data from metropolitan Atlanta. The simulation resultsindicate that the use of sophisticated optimization methods instead of simple greedy matching rules substantiallyimprove the performance of ride-sharing systems. Furthermore, even with relatively low participation rates, it appearsthat sustainable populations of dynamic ride-sharing participants may be possible even in relatively sprawling urbanareas with many employment centers.1. IntroductionThe growing ubiquity of mobile Internet technology has created new opportunities to bring together people withsimilar itineraries and time schedules to share rides on short-notice. Internet-enabled smartphones allow people tooffer and request trips whenever they want wherever they are, enabling dynamic, on-demand ride-sharing [1]. In-creasing the number of travelers per vehicle trip by effective usage of empty car seats by ride-sharing may of courseenhance the efficiency of private transportation, and contribute to reducing traffic congestion, fuel consumption, andpollution. Moreover, ride-sharing allows users to share car-related expenses such as fuel costs.By dynamic ride-sharing, we refer to a system where an automated process employed by a ride-share providermatches up drivers and riders on very short notice, which can range from a few minutes to a few hours before departuretime. We believe ride matching should be largely automated in a dynamic setting to establish ride-shares in a waythat requires minimal effort from the participants. Recently, many new companies have emerged that offer dynamicride-share services. For example, providers like Carticipate, EnergeticX/Zebigo, Avego, and Piggyback have recentlystarted offering mobile phone applications that allow drivers with spare seats to connect to people wanting to share aride.The ride-share provider typically lets a user offer a ride as a