Mobility-on-Demand Services in Mixed Transportation Environments: Planning, Operation and Market Equilibrium

Abstract

This thesis investigates various emerging mobility-on-demand services in mixed transportation environments, examining their planning, operational decisions, and how they interact with traditional transportation services through competition and cooperation to establish new market equilibria. The research progressively explores decision models and system equilibria across three distinct scenarios.

The first part examines early-stage autonomous vehicle implementation when AVs still depend on road communication infrastructure. It analyzes how a ride-hailing platform optimizes profit using a mixed fleet of Level-4 autonomous vehicles and human-driven vehicles through service area planning and operational strategy adjustments. The case study results show that even with substantial equipment maintenance costs, introducing Level-4 AVs significantly increases platform profits.

The second part considers a duopoly ride-hailing market under a mature autonomous driving technology scenario, consisting of an autonomous platform capable of producing AVs and a traditional platform without AV production capability. The two platforms compete to serve urban travel demand via the road network and may engage in cooperation on AV supply depending on market conditions. The case study results demonstrate that two platforms can achieve mutual benefits through AV rental while improving transportation service levels across the network.

The third part focuses on on-demand Urban Air Mobility (UAM). It investigates how a UAM operator determines its vertiport locations and operational strategies, taking into account the corresponding adjustments in public transit services. The study further examines how strategic interactions between UAM and public transit influence ride services and the resulting congestion levels in the road network. The case study results indicate that UAM primarily complements metro services when the vertiport maintenance costs are high, but shifts toward competition as these costs decrease. Additionally, the introduction of UAM does not always enhance the overall efficiency of the transportation system; instead, it may intensify road traffic congestion in certain areas.

Overall, this thesis presents a comprehensive exploration of business models for various mobility-on-demand services and how they reshape transportation systems through interaction with existing service providers. The methodological frameworks and case study results offer significant insights for real-world transportation planning and regulations.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Supervisor	Sen LI (Supervisor)