A macroscopic comparison approach for substitutionary on-demand flexible micro-transit services

Abstract

On-demand travel alternatives offer a myriad of advantages for both service users and service operators. With on-demand trip-sharing, the derived benefits are more accentuated, but little is known about the macroscopic user performance and efficiency of high-capacity on-demand services as a replacement for bus services. In this work, we develop a macroscopic comparison scheme between flexible-route and flexible-schedule micro-transit services, and fixed-route and fixed-schedule public transportation. To analyze the replaceability potential between the two types of services under different graph structures and various spatial demand distributions and intensities, we develop two simulation frameworks to replicate station-based micro-transit and fixed-schedule bus. By examining the values of detour, waiting time, and occupancy under various graph and demand configurations, we infer the performance and efficiency of each service. The results show that the difference in aggregate waiting times is insignificant under relatively low or high demand rates.