Objectives

In this project, we propose to investigate fundamental problems associated with dynamic vanpooling from the perspectives of passengers, operators, as well as policy makers. The objectives can be summarized as:

• Quantify passengers’ preference toward various service attributes of dynamic vanpooling such as pick-up delay, circuity of the routes, and fare
• Build a simulation platform that can allow us to quantitatively evaluate the performance of dynamic vanpooling and its social impacts
• Develop a high-performance scheduling algorithm, which is a core technology for dynamic vanpooling. It shall be capable of handling stochasticity in both demand and travel time and can coordinate a fleet of vehicles in megacities like Shanghai
• Assess the social and environmental impacts of dynamic vanpooling and identify ways to integrate it with existing travelmodes to serve the mobility needs of the residents.