IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i11p4455-d365173.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On-Demand Flexible Transit in Fast-Growing Cities: The Case of Dubai

Author

Listed:
  • Nadia Giuffrida

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy)

  • Michela Le Pira

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy)

  • Giuseppe Inturri

    (Department of Electric, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy)

  • Matteo Ignaccolo

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy)

  • Giovanni Calabrò

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy)

  • Blochin Cuius

    (MVMANT srl, Mirabella Imbaccari, 95040 Catania, Italy)

  • Riccardo D’Angelo

    (MVMANT srl, Mirabella Imbaccari, 95040 Catania, Italy)

  • Alessandro Pluchino

    (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy
    Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare—INFN, 95125 Catania, Italy)

Abstract

Increase in city population and size leads to growing transport demand and heterogeneous mobility habits. In turn, this may result in economic and social inequalities within the context of rapid economic growth. Provision of flexible transit in fast-growing cities is a promising strategy to overcome the limits of conventional public transport and avoid the use of private cars, towards better accessibility and social inclusion. This paper presents the case of Dubai (UAE), where a demand responsive transit service called MVMANT (a company based in Italy) has been tested in some low demand districts. The contribution of this work relies on the use of an agent-based model calibrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) real data to reproduce the service and find optimal configurations from both the perspective of the transport operator and the community. Different scenarios were simulated, by changing the vehicle assignment strategy and capacity, and comparing MVMANT with a ride-sharing service with smaller vehicles. Results suggest that route choice strategy is important to find a balance between operator and user costs, and that these types of flexible transit can satisfy transport demand with limited total costs compared to other shared mobility services. They can also be effective in satisfying fluctuating demand by adopting heterogeneous fleets of vehicles. Finally, appropriate planning and evaluation of these services are needed to fully explore their potential in covering the gap between low-quality fixed public transport and unsustainable private transport.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadia Giuffrida & Michela Le Pira & Giuseppe Inturri & Matteo Ignaccolo & Giovanni Calabrò & Blochin Cuius & Riccardo D’Angelo & Alessandro Pluchino, 2020. "On-Demand Flexible Transit in Fast-Growing Cities: The Case of Dubai," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4455-:d:365173
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4455/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4455/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Inturri, Giuseppe & Le Pira, Michela & Giuffrida, Nadia & Ignaccolo, Matteo & Pluchino, Alessandro & Rapisarda, Andrea & D'Angelo, Riccardo, 2019. "Multi-agent simulation for planning and designing new shared mobility services," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 34-44.
    2. Daniel J. Fagnant & Kara M. Kockelman, 2018. "Dynamic ride-sharing and fleet sizing for a system of shared autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 143-158, January.
    3. Fichera, Alberto & Pluchino, Alessandro & Volpe, Rosaria, 2018. "A multi-layer agent-based model for the analysis of energy distribution networks in urban areas," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 508(C), pages 710-725.
    4. Le Pira, Michela & Marcucci, Edoardo & Gatta, Valerio & Inturri, Giuseppe & Ignaccolo, Matteo & Pluchino, Alessandro, 2017. "Integrating discrete choice models and agent-based models for ex-ante evaluation of stakeholder policy acceptability in urban freight transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 13-25.
    5. Ambrosino, Giorgio & Nelson, John D. & Boero, Marco & Pettinelli, Irene, 2016. "Enabling intermodal urban transport through complementary services: From Flexible Mobility Services to the Shared Use Mobility Agency," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 179-184.
    6. Alessio Emanuele Biondo & Alessandro Pluchino & Andrea Rapisarda & Dirk Helbing, 2013. "Reducing Financial Avalanches By Random Investments," Papers 1309.3639, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2013.
    7. Pluchino, Alessandro & Rapisarda, Andrea & Garofalo, Cesare, 2010. "The Peter principle revisited: A computational study," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 389(3), pages 467-472.
    8. Sohani Liyanage & Hussein Dia & Rusul Abduljabbar & Saeed Asadi Bagloee, 2019. "Flexible Mobility On-Demand: An Environmental Scan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-39, February.
    9. Pluchino, Alessandro & Garofalo, Cesare & Rapisarda, Andrea & Spagano, Salvatore & Caserta, Maurizio, 2011. "Accidental politicians: How randomly selected legislators can improve parliament efficiency," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 390(21), pages 3944-3954.
    10. Marcucci, Edoardo & Le Pira, Michela & Gatta, Valerio & Inturri, Giuseppe & Ignaccolo, Matteo & Pluchino, Alessandro, 2017. "Simulating participatory urban freight transport policy-making: Accounting for heterogeneous stakeholders’ preferences and interaction effects," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 69-86.
    11. Jean-François Cordeau & Gilbert Laporte, 2007. "The dial-a-ride problem: models and algorithms," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 29-46, September.
    12. Le Pira, Michela & Inturri, Giuseppe & Ignaccolo, Matteo & Pluchino, Alessandro & Rapisarda, Andrea, 2017. "Finding shared decisions in stakeholder networks: An agent-based approach," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 466(C), pages 277-287.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Inturri, Giuseppe & Giuffrida, Nadia & Ignaccolo, Matteo & Le Pira, Michela & Pluchino, Alessandro & Rapisarda, Andrea & D'Angelo, Riccardo, 2021. "Taxi vs. demand responsive shared transport systems: An agent-based simulation approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 116-126.
    2. Chuloh Jung & Nahla Al Qassimi & Mohammad Arar & Jihad Awad, 2022. "The Improvement of User Satisfaction for Two Urban Parks in Dubai, UAE: Bay Avenue Park and Al Ittihad Park," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Markov, Iliya & Guglielmetti, Rafael & Laumanns, Marco & Fernández-Antolín, Anna & de Souza, Ravin, 2021. "Simulation-based design and analysis of on-demand mobility services," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 170-205.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Inturri, Giuseppe & Le Pira, Michela & Giuffrida, Nadia & Ignaccolo, Matteo & Pluchino, Alessandro & Rapisarda, Andrea & D'Angelo, Riccardo, 2019. "Multi-agent simulation for planning and designing new shared mobility services," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 34-44.
    2. Inturri, Giuseppe & Giuffrida, Nadia & Ignaccolo, Matteo & Le Pira, Michela & Pluchino, Alessandro & Rapisarda, Andrea & D'Angelo, Riccardo, 2021. "Taxi vs. demand responsive shared transport systems: An agent-based simulation approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 116-126.
    3. Alessandro Pluchino & Alessio Emanuele Biondo & Andrea Rapisarda, 2018. "Talent Versus Luck: The Role Of Randomness In Success And Failure," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(03n04), pages 1-31, May.
    4. Simpson, Jesse R. & Mishra, Sabyasachee, 2021. "Developing a methodology to predict the adoption rate of Connected Autonomous Trucks in transportation organizations using peer effects," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    5. Caserta, Maurizio & Pluchino, Alessandro & Rapisarda, Andrea & Spagano, Salvatore, 2021. "Why lot? How sortition could help representative democracy," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 565(C).
    6. Biondo, A.E. & Pluchino, A. & Rapisarda, A., 2018. "Modeling surveys effects in political competitions," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 503(C), pages 714-726.
    7. Qiuchen, Wang & Jannicke, Hauge Baalsrud & Sebastiaan, Meijer, 2022. "The complexity of stakeholder influence on MaaS: A study on multi-stakeholder perspectives in Shenzhen self-driving mini-bus case," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    8. Alessio Emanuele Biondo & Alfio Giarlotta & Alessandro Pluchino & Andrea Rapisarda, 2016. "Perfect Information vs Random Investigation: Safety Guidelines for a Consumer in the Jungle of Product Differentiation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(1), pages 1-26, January.
    9. Alessandro Pluchino & Giulio Burgio & Andrea Rapisarda & Alessio Emanuele Biondo & Alfredo Pulvirenti & Alfredo Ferro & Toni Giorgino, 2019. "Exploring the role of interdisciplinarity in physics: Success, talent and luck," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, June.
    10. Liu, Zhiyong & Li, Ruimin & Dai, Jingchen, 2022. "Effects and feasibility of shared mobility with shared autonomous vehicles: An investigation based on data-driven modeling approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 206-226.
    11. Marcucci, Edoardo & Gatta, Valerio & Le Pira, Michela, 2018. "Gamification design to foster stakeholder engagement and behavior change: An application to urban freight transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 119-132.
    12. Anand, Nilesh & van Duin, Ron & Tavasszy, Lorant, 2021. "Carbon credits and urban freight consolidation: An experiment using agent based simulation," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    13. Alessio Emanuele Biondo & Alessandro Pluchino & Andrea Rapisarda & Dirk Helbing, 2013. "Are Random Trading Strategies More Successful than Technical Ones?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(7), pages 1-13, July.
    14. , Aisdl, 2020. "The Serendipity Mindset," OSF Preprints w52y9, Center for Open Science.
    15. Lisa Dang & Widar von Arx & Jonas Frölicher, 2021. "The Impact of On-Demand Collective Transport Services on Sustainability: A Comparison of Various Service Options in a Rural and an Urban Area of Switzerland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-27, March.
    16. Lisa Bauchinger & Anna Reichenberger & Bryonny Goodwin-Hawkins & Jurij Kobal & Mojca Hrabar & Theresia Oedl-Wieser, 2021. "Developing Sustainable and Flexible Rural–Urban Connectivity through Complementary Mobility Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, January.
    17. Tavasszy, Lóránt A., 2020. "Predicting the effects of logistics innovations on freight systems: Directions for research," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-6.
    18. , Aisdl, 2020. "Becoming Attuned," OSF Preprints j7f8y, Center for Open Science.
    19. Edoardo Marcucci & Valerio Gatta & Michela Le Pira & Lisa Hansson & Svein Bråthen, 2020. "Digital Twins: A Critical Discussion on Their Potential for Supporting Policy-Making and Planning in Urban Logistics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-15, December.
    20. Gatta, Valerio & Marcucci, Edoardo & Delle Site, Paolo & Le Pira, Michela & Carrocci, Céline Sacha, 2019. "Planning with stakeholders: Analysing alternative off-hour delivery solutions via an interactive multi-criteria approach," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 53-62.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4455-:d:365173. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.