Smart Sustainable Mobility: Analytics and Algorithms for Next-Generation Mobility Systems

To this date, mobility ecosystems around the world operate on an uncoordinated, inefficient and unsustainable basis. Yet, many technology-enabled solutions that have the potential to remedy these societal negatives are already at our disposal or just around the corner. Innovations in vehicle technology, IoT devices, mobile connectivity and AI-powered information systems are expected to bring about a mobility system that is connected, autonomous, shared and electric (CASE). In order to fully leverage the sustainability opportunities afforded by CASE, system-level coordination and management approaches are needed. This Thesis sets out an agenda for Information Systems research to shape the future of CASE mobility through data, analytics and algorithms (Chapter 1). Drawing on causal inference, (spatial) machine learning, mathematical programming and reinforcement learning, three concrete contributions toward this agenda are developed. Chapter 2 demonstrates the potential of pervasive and inexpensive sensor technology for policy analysis. Connected sensing devices have significantly reduced the cost and complexity of acquiring high-resolution, high-frequency data in the physical world. This affords researchers the opportunity to track temporal and spatial patterns of offline phenomena. Drawing on a case from the bikesharing sector, we demonstrate how geo-tagged IoT data streams can be used for tracing out highly localized causal effects of large-scale mobility policy interventions while offering actionable insights for policy makers and practitioners. Chapter 3 sets out a solution approach to a novel decision problem faced by operators of shared mobility fleets: allocating vehicle inventory optimally across a network when competition is present. The proposed three-stage model combines real-time data analytics, machine learning and mixed integer non-linear programming into an integrated framework. It provides operational decision support for fleet managers in contested shared mobility markets by generating optimal vehicle re-positioning schedules in real time. Chapter 4 proposes a method for leveraging data-driven digital twin (DT) frameworks for large multi-stage stochastic design problems. Such problem classes are notoriously difficult to solve with traditional stochastic optimization. Drawing on the case of Electric Vehicle Charging Hubs (EVCHs), we show how high-fidelity, data-driven DT simulation environments fused with reinforcement learning (DT-RL) can achieve (close-to) arbitrary scalability and high modeling flexibility. In benchmark experiments we demonstrate that DT-RL-derived designs result in superior cost and service-level performance under real-world operating conditions

Essays on spatial and behavioral analytics for platform design

The design and operation of a two-sided platform require a variety of decisions to facilitate a match between sellers (capacity) and buyers (demand). Many platforms deploy analytic capabilities to leverage rich information, on both demand and capacity, that is available in real-time. This dissertation research explores design decisions, such as price structure and quality controls, and allied analytic capabilities in order to document their impact on platform governance. These decisions are tested in the context of ride-sharing platform by positing three fundamental challenges that must be accounted for effective design: (1) spatial distribution of capacity and demand that allows for capacity spillovers, (2) buyer’s sentiment biases, and (3) seller’s relocation biases. These challenges are assessed in three separate but related essays. The first essay investigates how the policies for setting surge prices should be designed under capacity spillovers. Using a data set from Uber’s operations, we estimate a spatial panel model to reveal its surge pricing structure that accounts for spatial dependency. Allied counterfactual analysis illustrates the limitations of a spot pricing policy (i.e., a policy that does not account for spillovers). The second essay assesses the impact of buyer’s sentiment bias, ranging from optimism to pessimism, on the platform’s decision to control seller quality. Platforms face a trade-off between ensuring high-quality sellers and guaranteeing enough sellers such that wait-time is lowered. We formally characterize an optimal exclusion threshold on seller quality in the presence of sentiment bias. We also examine strategies that a platform can access to benefit from buyer’s behavioral biases. Results document the impact of seller quality on a platform’s profitability and social welfare. In the last essay, we focus on the seller’s relocation behavior. There is a debate in the literature on whether sellers’ willingness to relocate across demand zones in order to chase surging prices is rewarded in a ride-sharing platform setting. Using multiple machine learning algorithms, we classify rewarding behaviors with different pricing structures under a variety of circumstances. Results provide guidance on how to provide incentives while managing the dynamics of spatially distributed capacity

Emerging transport technologies and the modal efficiency framework: A case for mobility as a service (MaaS)

The land passenger transport sector lies on the cusp of a major transformation, guided by collaborative consumption, next generation vehicles, demographic change and digital technologies. Whilst there is widespread enthusiasm across the community for this nexus of disruptors, the wholescale implications on road capacity, traffic congestion, land use and the urban form remains unclear, and by extension, whether this emerging transport paradigm will bring a net benefit to the transport system and our communities. Some issues include the proliferation of point-to-point transportation, a continuation of universal vehicle ownership, and the demise of fixed route public transport—all envisaged by various industry leaders in technology and transportation. In this paper, we develop the modal efficiency framework, with axes representing spatial and temporal efficiency to illustrate why some of these developments may be geometrically incompatible with dense urban environments. We then investigate three potential scenarios likely to emerge and explain why they may be problematic with reference to this framework. Mobility as a service (MaaS) based on shared mobility and modal integration is then introduced as a sustainable alternative which accounts for the realities of spatial and temporal efficiency. Various models for implementing MaaS are evaluated including the distinction between commercially-motivated models (presently well advanced in research and development), and systems which incorporate an institutional overlay. The latter, government-led MaaS, is recommended for implementation given the opportunity for incorporating road pricing as an input into package price, defined by time of day, geography and modal efficiency. In amidst the hype of this emerging transport paradigm, a critical assessment of the realm of possibilities can better inform government policy and ensure that digital disruption occurs to our advantage.Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

An Investigation of Multisided Digital Platform Boundaries

Multisided digital platforms (MSDPs) are software systems that attract at least two distinct groups of users and generate network effects. They have attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners in recent years, as they have disrupted how firms create and capture value and have blurred their boundaries. Firms implementing MSDPs may make different boundary decisions when configuring the complements of their MSDPs. In some cases, they build complements in-house, while in others, they rely on third-party complementors. Despite efforts to understand the complex phenomenon of MSDPs, there is still confusion about what they are, and little is known about the determinant of their boundaries. This study aimed to provide a clear definition of MSDPs and investigated the factors influencing their boundaries as well as how firms respond to these factors. To answer these questions, first, this thesis synthesised a definition of MSDPs by integrating various streams of literature. Based on this, MSDPs have been defined as an organising logic characterised by a layered modular architecture and satisfying three conditions: (1) multisidedness, (2) modularity and (3) codebase extension. Second, this thesis implemented a qualitative case study of Uber, a ridesharing MSDP that disrupted the taxi industry worldwide, to understand the factors influencing MSDP’s boundaries. An in-depth analysis of Uber’s boundary decisions regarding its payment and maps complements was conducted. This showed that supply side factors identified in the literature, such as the need to reduce transactional hazards and build core competencies, influenced MSDP boundary decisions. In addition, demand side factors that have not been considered by previous research influenced firm boundaries. These demand side factors were complement localisation (adapting to local market conditions), customer heterogeneity realisation (addressing customers’ heterogenous needs and preferences) and supermodular complementarity ignition (increasing user numbers and investment in the MSDP). The findings suggested that an MSDP firm is more likely to rely on third-party complementors to respond to demand side factors, even though this may increase transactions costs. An exception to this is when a third-party complementary asset cannot be customised to meet the requirements of the MSDP. In these cases, an MSDP is more likely to build a complement in-house. These findings have offered new insights into MSDP boundaries by shifting the focus of existing theories of firm boundaries from the supply side to the demand side and from value capture to value creation. These new theoretical findings have complemented existing theories of firm boundaries and enhanced our understanding of MSDP boundaries. Moreover, these findings have important theoretical and practical implications, such as the need for future research to better understand demand side factors and for managers to evaluate the tension between supply side and demand side factors strategically.Qatar Research Leadership Program, Qatar Foundatio

Emerging transport technologies and the modal efficiency framework: A case for mobility as a service (MaaS)

The land passenger transport sector lies on the cusp of a major transformation, guided by collaborative consumption, next generation vehicles, demographic change and digital technologies. Whilst there is widespread enthusiasm across the community for this nexus of disruptors, the wholescale implications on road capacity, traffic congestion, land use and the urban form remains unclear, and by extension, whether this emerging transport paradigm will bring a net benefit to the transport system and our communities. Some issues include the proliferation of point-to-point transportation, a continuation of universal vehicle ownership, and the demise of fixed route public transport—all envisaged by various industry leaders in technology and transportation. In this paper, we develop the modal efficiency framework, with axes representing spatial and temporal efficiency to illustrate why some of these developments may be geometrically incompatible with dense urban environments. We then investigate three potential scenarios likely to emerge and explain why they may be problematic with reference to this framework. Mobility as a service (MaaS) based on shared mobility and modal integration is then introduced as a sustainable alternative which accounts for the realities of spatial and temporal efficiency. Various models for implementing MaaS are evaluated including the distinction between commercially-motivated models (presently well advanced in research and development), and systems which incorporate an institutional overlay. The latter, government-led MaaS, is recommended for implementation given the opportunity for incorporating road pricing as an input into package price, defined by time of day, geography and modal efficiency. In amidst the hype of this emerging transport paradigm, a critical assessment of the realm of possibilities can better inform government policy and ensure that digital disruption occurs to our advantage

Multi-stakeholder collaboration in urban transport: state-of-the-art and research opportunities

Transport systems are undergoing a change of paradigm that focuses on resource-sharing and collaboration of multiple and diverse stakeholders. This paper aims to present a state-of-the-art on the main research issues of multi-stakeholder collaboration in urban transport and address the main contributions of the Special Issue on Collaboration and Urban Transport to the field. To that end, it seems necessary to identify and address the complexity of the relations of the stakeholders in the field, beyond the traditional classification of private and public stakeholders. A functional classification of urban stakeholders related to the different land uses is proposed a refer to space users and space organizers, each with several sub-categories. Furthermore, the collaboration among those stakeholders can take different forms and can be developed at different levels: transactional, informational and decisional. Thus, the main research topics regarding multi-stakeholders' collaboration are defined as: partnerships, resource sharing, resource pooling and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) systems. A set of papers in this special issue focus on Urban Consolidation Centres (UCCs), partnerships in transport under a general perspective, multi-stakeholder cooperation and its barriers, collaborative decision-making, traffic prediction and urban congestion. In the papers, which deal with the field of multi-stakeholder collaboration in urban transport, there is a predominance on the use of surveys, but also a focus on data-driven techniques. As a result, this special issue contributes not only to the theoretical aspects, but adds value to technical and methodological issues

Examination of Regional Transit Service Under Contracting: A Case Study in the Greater New Orleans Region, Research Report 10-09

Many local governments and transit agencies in the United States face financial difficulties in providing adequate public transit service in individual systems, and in providing sufficient regional coordination to accommodate transit trips involving at least one transfer between systems. These difficulties can be attributed to the recent economic downturn, continuing withdrawal of the state and federal funds that help support local transit service, a decline in local funding for transit service in inner cities due to ongoing suburbanization, and a distribution of resources that responds to geographic equity without addressing service needs. This study examines two main research questions: (1) the effect of a “delegated management” contract on efficiency and effectiveness within a single transit system, and (2) the effects of a single private firm—contracted separately by more than one agency in the same region—on regional coordination, exploring the case in Greater New Orleans. The current situation in New Orleans exhibits two unique transit service conditions. First, New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) executed a “delegated management” contract with a multinational private firm, outsourcing more functions (e.g., management, planning, funding) to the contractor than has been typical in the U.S. Second, as the same contractor has also been contracted by another transit agency in an adjacent jurisdiction—Jefferson Transit (JeT), this firm may potentially have economic incentives to improve regional coordination, in order to increase the productivity and effectiveness of its own transit service provision. Although the limited amount of available operation and financial data has prevented us from drawing more definitive conclusions, the findings of this multifaceted study should provide valuable information on a transit service contracting approach new to the U.S.: delegated management. This study also identified a coherent set of indices with which to evaluate the regional coordination of transit service, the present status of coordination among U.S. transit agencies, and barriers that need to be resolved for regional transit coordination to be successful

Optimal Transfers and Participation Decisions in International Environmental Agreements

The literature on international environmental agreements has recognized the role transfers play in encouraging participation in international environmental agreements (IEAs), but the few results achieved so far are overly specific and do not exploit the full potential of transfers for successful treaty-making. Therefore, in this paper, we develop a framework that enables us to study the role of transfers in a more systematic way. We propose a design for transfers using both internal and external financial resources and making “welfare optimal agreements” self-enforcing. To illustrate the relevance of our transfer scheme for actual treaty-making, we use a well-known integrated assessment model of climate change to show how appropriate transfers may be able to induce almost all countries into signing a self-enforcing climate treaty.Self-enforcing international environmental agreements, Climate policy, Transfers

Sustainable Mobility for Island Destinations

This open access book presents the findings of the CIVITAS DESTINATIONS project regarding the link between mobility and tourism in urban areas and the complications tourist destinations face in becoming more sustainable. It integrates the tourist mobility needs and the associated fluctuation impacts in the design of mobility solutions in order to enforce the accessibility, attractiveness, efficiency and sustainability of transport services and infrastructure for both residents and tourists in island cities such as Rethymno, Crete, and Valetta, Malta. Sustainable Mobility for Island Destinations contains contributions from highly experienced academics, engineers, and planners in the area of sustainable tourism, mobility services, and smart solutions design companies assisting: the change of the mind set in insular and tourism areas; the adoption of green mobility systems and services; and monitoring the environmental benefits to assist towards the Climate Change. It explores the challenges tourist islands face, such as the seasonal fluxes in transport usage, the pressures of tourism to provide aesthetic green spaces, and the space issues of being an island in relation to economic potential and infrastructure construction. The book suggests areas for future research, and implementation of innovative systems and policies. It will be of interest to academics, planners, decision makers, and environmentalists