33 The emergence of automated vehicles holds great promise for the future of transportation. While 34 it commercial sales of fully self-driving vehicles will not commence for several more years, once 35 this is possible, a new transportation mode for personal travel looks set to arrive. This new mode 36 is the shared autonomous (or fully-automated) vehicle (SAV), combining features of short-term 37 on-demand rentals with self-driving capabilities: in essence, a driverless taxi. 38 39 This investigation examines SAVs’ potential implications at a low level of market penetration 40 (1.3% of regional trips) by simulating a fleet of SAVs serving travelers in Austin, Texas’ 12-mile 41 by 24-mile regional core. The simulation uses a sample of trips from the region’s planning 42 model to generate demand across traffic analysis zones and a 32,272-link network. Trips call on 43 the vehicles in 5-minute departure time windows, with link-level travel times varying by hour of 44 day based on MATSim’s dynamic traffic assignment simulation software. 45 1 Results show that each SAV is able to replace around 9 conventional vehicles within the 24 mi x 2 12 mi area while still maintaining a reasonable level of service (as proxied by user wait times, 3 which average just 1.0 minutes). Additionally, approximately 8 percent more vehicle-miles 4 traveled (VMT) may be generated, due to SAVs journeying unoccupied to the next traveler, or 5 relocating to a more favorable position in anticipation of next-period demand.
Smart Mobility Community for Standards and Practices
