A Simulation-Based Evaluation of a Cargo-Hitching Service for E-Commerce Using Mobility-on-Demand Vehicles

Time-sensitive parcel deliveries—shipments requested for delivery in a day or less—are an increasingly important aspect of urban logistics. It is challenging to deal with these deliveries from a carrier perspective. These require additional planning constraints, preventing the efficient consolidation of deliveries that is possible when demand is well known in advance. Furthermore, such time-sensitive deliveries are requested to a wider spatial scope than retail centers, including homes and offices. Therefore, an increase in such deliveries is considered to exacerbate negative externalities, such as congestion and emissions. One of the solutions is to leverage spare capacity in passenger transport modes. This concept is often denominated as cargo hitching. While there are various system designs, it is crucial that such a solution does not deteriorate the quality of service of passenger trips. This research aims to evaluate the use of mobility-on-demand (MOD) services that perform same-day parcel deliveries. To test the MOD-based solutions, we utilize a high-resolution agent- and activity-based simulation platform of passenger and freight flows. E-commerce demand carrier data collected in Singapore are used to characterize simulated parcel delivery demand. We explore operational scenarios that aim to minimize the adverse effects of fulfilling deliveries with MOD service vehicles on passenger flows. Adverse effects are measured in fulfillment, wait, and travel times. A case study on Singapore indicates that the MOD services have potential to fulfill a considerable amount of parcel deliveries and decrease freight vehicle traffic and total vehicle kilometers travelled without compromising the quality of MOD for passenger travel. Insights into the operational performance of the cargo-hitching service are also provided.

Stopping Position Matters: Drawing A Better Communication between Pedestrian and Driverless Automated Vehicles on Narrow Roads

Automated vehicles (AVs) are expected to be used as mobility services for improving the quality of life in aging rural areas. In this study, we investigated problematic cases of interaction between pedestrians and AVs in Japanese rural areas and observed cases that occurred on narrow roads. To explore a better communication method when pedestrians interact with vehicles, a virtual reality experiment examined the impacts of two communication methods (external human-machine interface and vehicle movement) regarding two types of vehicles (golf cart and bus). The results showed that pedestrians could decide on crossing the road quickly when the AV attempted to reduce speed early and stopped maintaining an appropriate distance from pedestrians. The stopping position is an important contributor to pedestrian decision-making in crossing and attitude toward AVs. The findings of this study have implications for the design of future automated service vehicles in rural areas.

Comparative ride comfort analysis of in-service trams on extreme alignment configurations using smartphone-based sensing

In this paper, a cost-effective method for monitoring and evaluating the tramway passenger comfort and ride quality are presented using motion sensor data of smartphone fitted to in-service vehicles. Running vehicles experience a broad spectrum of vibrations and oscillations that occur in response to excitation inputs of vehicle-track coupled dynamics. Android mobile platform-based acquisition software is developed (CAFat) for commercial use, and the data from smartphone built-in sensors such as accelerometer and gyroscope are processed by sensor fusion and are coupled with local and global positioning using GNSS data to identify sections with poor ride quality. Results are promising and demonstrate that poor ride quality can be accurately localized on a tramway network. The proposed method enables infrastructure monitoring done by conventional passenger cars and makes the possibility of comparing the ride quality of traditional old-designed and the modular multi-articulated in-service vehicles.

Theoretical and methodological approaches to the calculation of planned costs for maintenance of service vehicles of the road works customer

Introduction. Effective management of road indstry is particularly important in conditions of limited funding, as it is not possible to provide adequate funding of the economic entity that has the functions of a customer service. The cost of the customer service maintenance depends directly on the compliance with applicable regulations for these works cost determination. One of the aspects that form a considerable part of the costs of customer service is the maintenance of service vehicles.Problem Statement. Road services in the regions (hereinafter RSR) are the recipients and managers of the funds from the State Budget of Ukraine that are directed for the development and maintenance of public roads of state importance, being as well the asset holders of these roads. To perform their functions, the RSR have vehicles on their balance, the use of which involves a number of costs, including fuel and lubricants, repair, maintenance, replacement of tires, etc. The most important of the steps involved in setting the costs of vehicle maintenance is the process of cost planning. Planning has to be based on the structure of the vehicle fleet (own or leased), functional responsibilities and scope of road works.Planning is carried out for vehicles on the balance of the RSR, as well as for leased vehicles. In the case of leasing, the costs mentioned above are added by the vehicles leasing costs. These costs must be forecasted, justified and performed within the approved cost estimates of the customer service expenses.Purpose. The purpose of the article is to highlight the theoretical and methodological approaches to the calculation of planned costs for the maintenance of service vehicles of the road works customer.Materials and methods. Dialectical methods of knowledge, such as analysis and synthesis of fleet composition characteristics and approaches to cost planning methods, as well as induction, were used in writing the article to explore some aspects of the process of calculating the planned cost of maintenance of the road works customer's service vehicles.Results. The study highlights and describes the main approaches to the calculation of planned costs for the maintenance of service vehicles of the road works customer. The methodology of calculation of planned costs for the maintenance of service vehicles is explored.Conclusions. The introduction of a clear methodology and analytical toolkit for calculating all necessary expenditure items for the maintenance of the road works customer's vehicles in the cost planning process will establish the implementation of a clear mechanism for calculating the planned costs of maintenance of the road works customer's vehicles. It will also provide an automated information-analytical complex for planning of cost estimates, with information entry and reporting in standard forms and possibility of prompt response to changes in fleet composition, needs for spare parts, repairs or other expenses for the maintenance of service vehicles and making changes in cost estimates.Keywords: motor vehicles, costs, cost planning, customer service, maintenance of service vehicles