Predicting Ride-Hailing Demand with Consideration of Social Equity: A Case Study of Chengdu

In the realm of shared autonomous vehicle ride-sharing, precise demand prediction is vital for optimizing resource allocation, improving travel efficiency, and promoting sustainable transport solutions. However, existing studies tend to overlook social attributes and demographic characteristics across various regions, resulting in disparities in prediction fairness between areas with plentiful and limited transportation resources. In order to achieve more accurate and fair prediction, an innovative Social Graph Convolution Long Short-Term Memory framework is proposed, incorporating demographic, spatial, and transportation accessibility information into multiple functional graphs, including functional similarity, population structure, and historical demand graphs. Furthermore, Mean Percentage Error indicators are employed in the loss function to balance prediction accuracy and fairness. The findings indicate that there is an enhancement in both prediction accuracy and fairness by at least 8.9% and 12.9%, respectively, compared to base models. Additionally, the predictions for rush hours in both privileged and underprivileged regions exhibit greater precision and rationality, supporting sustainable transport practices. The proposed framework effectively captures the demands of diverse social groups, thereby contributing to the advancement of social equity and long-term sustainability in urban mobility.