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The economics of automated public transport: Effects on operator cost, travel time, fare and subsidy

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  • Tirachini, Alejandro
  • Antoniou, Constantinos

Abstract

It is currently unknown in which city environments, automated vehicles could be deployed at reasonable speeds, given safety concerns. We analytically and numerically assess the impact of automation for optimal vehicle size, service frequency, fare, subsidy and degree of economies of scale, by developing a model that is applied for electric vehicles, with data from Chile and Germany, taken as illustrative examples of developed and developing countries. Automation scenarios include cases with partial driving cost savings and reduced running speed for automated vehicles. We find that a potential reduction in vehicle operating cost due to automation benefits operators, through a reduction of operator costs, and also benefits public transport users, through a reduction on waiting times and on the optimal fare per trip. The optimal subsidy per trip is also reduced. The benefits of vehicle automation are greater in countries where drivers’ salaries are larger.

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  • Tirachini, Alejandro & Antoniou, Constantinos, 2020. "The economics of automated public transport: Effects on operator cost, travel time, fare and subsidy," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecotra:v:21:y:2020:i:c:s2212012219300802
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecotra.2019.100151
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    9. Jia Guo & Yusak Susilo & Constantinos Antoniou & Anna Pernestål Brenden, 2020. "Influence of Individual Perceptions on the Decision to Adopt Automated Bus Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-13, August.
    10. Qingyun Tian & Yun Hui Lin & David Z. W. Wang, 2021. "Autonomous and conventional bus fleet optimization for fixed-route operations considering demand uncertainty," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2735-2763, October.
    11. Luigi Moccia & Duncan W. Allen & Gilbert Laporte & Andrea Spinosa, 2022. "Mode boundaries of automated metro and semi-rapid rail in urban transit," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 739-802, October.
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    13. Becker, Henrik & Becker, Felix & Abe, Ryosuke & Bekhor, Shlomo & Belgiawan, Prawira F. & Compostella, Junia & Frazzoli, Emilio & Fulton, Lewis M. & Guggisberg Bicudo, Davi & Murthy Gurumurthy, Krishna, 2020. "Impact of vehicle automation and electric propulsion on production costs for mobility services worldwide," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 105-126.
    14. Zhang, Jiyu & Ge, Ying-En & Tang, Chunyan & Zhong, Meisu, 2024. "Optimising modular-autonomous-vehicle transit service employing coupling–decoupling operations plus skip-stop strategy," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    15. Calabrò, Giovanni & Araldo, Andrea & Oh, Simon & Seshadri, Ravi & Inturri, Giuseppe & Ben-Akiva, Moshe, 2023. "Adaptive transit design: Optimizing fixed and demand responsive multi-modal transportation via continuous approximation," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    16. Elvik, Rune, 2020. "The demand for automated vehicles: A synthesis of willingness-to-pay surveys," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    17. Lu, Chengqi & Maciejewski, Michal & Wu, Hao & Nagel, Kai, 2023. "Demand-responsive transport for students in rural areas: A case study in Vulkaneifel, Germany," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    18. Kum Fai Yuen & Ling Qian Choo & Xue Li & Yiik Diew Wong & Fei Ma & Xueqin Wang, 2023. "A theoretical investigation of user acceptance of autonomous public transport," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 545-569, April.
    19. Nir Sharav & Yoram Shiftan, 2021. "Optimal Urban Transit Investment Model and Its Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-29, August.
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    21. Jara-Diaz, Sergio R. & Muñoz-Paulsen, Esteban, 2024. "Cable cars: From optimal design to optimal pricing," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    22. Fielbaum, Andres, 2024. "On the relationship between free public transport, stop spacing, and optimal frequencies," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    23. Høyem, Harald, 2022. "Public transport frequency and risk-taking behavior," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 30(C).
    24. Militão, Aitan M. & Tirachini, Alejandro, 2021. "Optimal fleet size for a shared demand-responsive transport system with human-driven vs automated vehicles: A total cost minimization approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 52-80.
    25. Andres Fielbaum & Alejandro Tirachini & Javier Alonso-Mora, 2021. "New sources of economies and diseconomies of scale in on-demand ridepooling systems and comparison with public transport," Papers 2106.15270, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2021.

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