On-Demand Public Transportation

In this paper we assess an on-demand public transportation system through a simulation study. The on-demand system makes use of minibuses that have neither fixed itineraries nor fixed stops. The minibuses are rerouted online to dynamically accommodate the requests received by the users. To use the on-demand service users communicate, close to their desired departure time, the origin and destination of the trip. If the estimated arrival time at destination fulfills the user acceptance threshold, it will be chosen. In the simulation we allow the user to walk, to use the on-demand service, a bus or a private car. We will consider a large number of scenarios to evaluate the potential costs/benefits of the introduction of an on-demand service. We will also analyze the scalability and the responsiveness of the service. The results suggest that an on-demand public transportation system would be preferred by most users to the private car and to a bus service. This in turn would imply a more efficient and environmentally friendly transportation system.