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Optimal assignment and incentive design in the taxi group ride problem

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  • Qian, Xinwu
  • Zhang, Wenbo
  • Ukkusuri, Satish V.
  • Yang, Chao

Abstract

Taxi group ride (TGR) is one popular case of taxi ridesharing, where passenger trips with nearby origins and destinations and similar departure time are grouped into a single ride. The study investigates theoretical and practical aspects of TGR implementation in real world. In particular, two essential problems on operation strategy and policy making of TGR are examined. First, we investigate the optimal assignment of a set of passengers for the sake of maximizing total saved travel miles. Second, we analyze different behaviors of passengers and drivers in participating taxi group rides, and explore the best incentives for TGR in order to maximize efficiency under optimal assignment. The optimal assignment is formulated as an integer linear programming problem and is further converted into an equivalent graph problem. While the problem is NP-hard, efficient algorithms are needed for real-world on-line implementations. We develop an exact algorithm and a heuristic algorithm to solve the TGR problem, and compare the results with a bounded-error greedy algorithm. The numerical experiments suggest that the heuristic algorithm is capable of solving real-world TGR instances efficiently with good solution quality. To explore the best incentives for grouped taxi rides, comprehensive numerical experiments are conducted using taxi trip data from New York City (US), Wuhan (China), and Shenzhen (China). Our numerical results show that over 47% of the total taxi trip mileage may be saved if proper level of incentives are provided and if passengers are matched optimally.

Suggested Citation

  • Qian, Xinwu & Zhang, Wenbo & Ukkusuri, Satish V. & Yang, Chao, 2017. "Optimal assignment and incentive design in the taxi group ride problem," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 208-226.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transb:v:103:y:2017:i:c:p:208-226
    DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2017.03.001
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    14. Daniel Y. Mo & H. Y. Lam & Weikun Xu & G. T. S. Ho, 2020. "Design of Flexible Vehicle Scheduling Systems for Sustainable Paratransit Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-18, July.
    15. Wang, Hai & Yang, Hai, 2019. "Ridesourcing systems: A framework and review," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 122-155.
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    17. Rajendran, Suchithra & Srinivas, Sharan, 2020. "Air taxi service for urban mobility: A critical review of recent developments, future challenges, and opportunities," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    18. Bahrami, Sina & Nourinejad, Mehdi & Nesheli, Mahmood Mahmoodi & Yin, Yafeng, 2022. "Optimal composition of solo and pool services for on-demand ride-hailing," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    19. Li, Baicheng & Szeto, W.Y., 2019. "Taxi service area design: Formulation and analysis," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 308-333.
    20. Mo, Dong & Yu, Jingru & Chen, Xiqun Michael, 2020. "Modeling and managing heterogeneous ride-sourcing platforms with government subsidies on electric vehicles," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 447-472.
    21. Wenbo Zhang & Tho V. Le & Satish V. Ukkusuri & Ruimin Li, 2020. "Influencing factors and heterogeneity in ridership of traditional and app-based taxi systems," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 971-996, April.
    22. Omer Faruk Aydin & Ilgin Gokasar & Onur Kalan, 2020. "Matching algorithm for improving ride-sharing by incorporating route splits and social factors," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-23, March.
    23. Bian, Zheyong & Liu, Xiang, 2019. "Mechanism design for first-mile ridesharing based on personalized requirements part I: Theoretical analysis in generalized scenarios," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 147-171.
    24. Sharif Azadeh, Sh. & Atasoy, Bilge & Ben-Akiva, Moshe E. & Bierlaire, M. & Maknoon, M.Y., 2022. "Choice-driven dial-a-ride problem for demand responsive mobility service," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 128-149.
    25. Nourinejad, Mehdi & Ramezani, Mohsen, 2020. "Ride-Sourcing modeling and pricing in non-equilibrium two-sided markets," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 340-357.

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