Computationally efficient dynamic assignment for on-demand ridesharing in congested networks

On-demand ridesharing service has been recognized as an effective way to meet travel needs while significantly reducing the number of required vehicles. However, most previous studies investigating dynamic assignment for ridesharing systems overlook the effects on travel times due to the assignment of requests to vehicles and their routes. To better assign the ridesharing vehicles while considering network traffic, we propose a framework that incorporates time-dependent link travel time into the request-vehicle assignment. Furthermore, we formulate an optimal assignment problem that considers multiple path options and that accounts for the congestion potentially caused by assigned routes. A set of simulations reveals that using an appropriate congestion avoidance ridesharing strategy can remarkably reduce passenger average travel and waiting time by alleviating traffic congestion in the network.