Self-driving shuttles as a complement to public transport – a characterization and classification

Abstract

Sustainable transportation is a top priority challenge for many cities and urban regions. To reach that, an attractive public transport plays a key role. In this paper an analysis of how the technology of self-driving vehicles, and in particular shuttles for about 6-20 passengers, can complement and improve attractively in public transport. Self-driving shuttles provide a new component to public transport, as smaller vehicles can operate on a higher frequency to a cost of the same order of magnitude as conventional larger buses. Six types of applications of self-driving shuttles in public transport are identified: Feeder line, Truncation of high capacity line, Cross connections, Center line, On-demand feeder line, and Within-area service (line or on demand). The application types are exemplified by two potential cases in Stockholm, and implementation barriers and strategies are discussed. The classification, together with examples from on-going applications, suggests that SD shuttles can contribute to public transport already without being fully self-driving everywhere.

Original document

The different versions of the original document can be found in:

• https://zenodo.org/record/1483810 under the license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode

• http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1483809,

https://zenodo.org/record/1483810 under the license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode

• https://zenodo.org/record/1483810,

http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1483810 under the license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode

DOIS: 10.5281/zenodo.1483809 10.5281/zenodo.1483810