Demand-capacity coordination method in autonomous public transportation

Abstract Technology of autonomous vehicles (AVs) is getting mature and some types of autonomous public transportation have been successfully tested. However, the replacement of conventional public transportation requires new planning and operational methods. The research questions were how to designate stops, routes, operational time, travel frequency and how to model the seat reservation process in order to satisfy personal requirements of travelers. As the operation of the new transportation system is to be derived from the user demands it has been investigated and described in detail, which was the base of the demand-capacity coordination method. Both the preliminary capacity planning and the real-time coordination methods have been developed with special focus on the required data structure and the information management processes. The methods are to be applied during creation of this advanced, high quality mobility service.