Resourcing idle privately owned autonomous electric vehicles: System design and simulation for ride-sharing in residential areas of the aging in Japan

Shared mobility services, autonomous vehicles (AVs), and electric vehicles (EVs) are potential solutions to issues triggered by suburbanization, greenhouse gas emissions, and population aging. In this study, a shared autonomous electric vehicle (SAEV) system is proposed to create a convenient and environmentally friendly shared mobility service system based on AVs for commuters and aging users in the suburbs by exploiting the idle time of park-and-ride private vehicles in Japan. The SAEV system provides mobility services to two user groups, “inbound commuters” and “elderly and disabled residents,” in two study areas. The proposed system performance was investigated using an agent-based simulation. The results show that non-EV scenarios have a better level of service owing to the improvement in average waiting time by about 20% when compared to EV scenarios which require charging. However, the SAEVs can still provide acceptable levels of mobility services. The waiting time can be maintained within 5 min when the fleet size is set at 40 trips per vehicle or less, and ride-sharing can reduce the waiting time significantly when the demand is high such as 80 trips per vehicle. Further, an average emission reduction of over 40% is anticipated when compared with the users’ previous travel modes. The system managers are advised to keep the demand trips per vehicle under 40 trips/vehicle for a low waiting time (approximate 5 min or less).