“Competition between shared autonomous vehicles and public transit: A case study in Singapore”
The popularity of autonomous vehicles has grown exponentially in recent years, undoubtedly transforming the transportation sphere as a whole. An MIT case study in Singapore used game theory in order to analyze the potential impact/threat that autonomous transportation services can have on public transit systems. The objective of the study was to simulate the competition between autonomous mobility on demand (AMoD) service and public transit operators in order to gain insight into what the future of public transportation looks like.
In the study, both competition process and system performance are evaluated with respect to the AMoD operator, the public transit operator, passengers, and the transport authority. Using an agent-based simulation, the study reproduces five scenarios: four of which are constrained competition, and one that focuses on unconstrained competition in order to find the Nash Equilibrium, (if there is one at all). This complicated simulation has many factors in play and directly relates back to our course material around game theory and maximizing individual payoff by finding the Nash Equilibrium.
The study found that given the correct circumstances, AMoD and public transit can be successfully integrated with one another and effectively coexist, which would in turn benefit all four stakeholders involved. The competition between the two services would force bus operators to decrease the use of inefficient routes and allow AMoDs to fill in these gaps. This has the potential to reduce passengers’ travel time but increase travel costs, which the study implies is a fair trade. Overall, the study found that the competition between operators can result in greater profits and increased system efficiency for both systems, compared to the status quo. This means that a Nash Equilibrium can be achieved if the correct policies and plans are preemptively put into place by the city.
Bibliography
Baichuan Mo, Zhejing Cao, Hongmou Zhang, Yu Shen, Jinhua Zhao,
Competition between shared autonomous vehicles and public transit: A case study in Singapore,
Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Volume 127, 2021,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2021.103058.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968090X21000863)