Automation Levels of Mobility Services
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 147, Issue 5
Abstract
Automation in road public transportation has been facilitated by the emergence of infocommunication and vehicle technologies. The widely accepted definitions of automation level focus solely on the driving aspects of vehicles. However, automation covers even more fields: service planning and management, vehicle and traffic control, and passenger-handling functions. Therefore, the main outcome of this paper is a method to be applied for the handling of complex automation levels, which gives a more comprehensive assessment of new transport technologies and mobility services. Functions and function categories are all described. The paper defines four levels of automation, with a detailed description of each level and each function. The method can be applied efficiently to the analysis and comparison of services, thereby highlighting possible fields of development. Mobility services can be described by values only in a general and simplified manner. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, existing services are assessed. Dial-a-bus service, taxi, ride sourcing, and car sharing are evaluated using the novel method, which provides an objective and comprehensive comparison of these services.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The research reported in this paper and carried out at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics was supported by the National Research Development and Innovation Fund (TKP2020 Institution Excellence Subprogram, Grant BME-IE-MIFM) based on the charter of bolster issued by the National Research Development and Innovation Office under the auspices of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology.
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Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 147 • Issue 5 • May 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 13, 2020
Accepted: Dec 22, 2020
Published online: Mar 8, 2021
Published in print: May 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Aug 8, 2021
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