Evaluation of Dynamic Transfer Nodes for Distributed Cooperative On-Demand Transportation

In general, passenger transportation systems for urban areas utilize fixed routes and durable schedules. This paradigm works well for static environments and rather constant customer movement patterns. However, whether or not required, actual demands at busy times are often neglected or compensated by tighter schedules. Demand responsive transport services are an alternative to the static approach whereby the transport system adjusts e.g. the service frequency to current demands. In our previous work we introduced dynamic transfer nodes to leverage on-demand transportation services in terms of scalability and service quality. Thereby, vehicles exchange their current passenger lists, cluster these lists according to passenger destinations, and estimate whether an opportunity to transfer passengers between vehicles can help to reduce the overall travel time. In this paper we present an evaluation based on different city morphologies utilizing different passenger demand models. We extended our simulation environment for the application of OpenStreetMap data, appropriate routing functionality, depots, and a demand dependent dynamic fleet size.