Dynamic Rebalancing On-Demand Service Operations for Sustainable Transportation with a Tradable Credit Scheme

Abstract

This study introduces a novel supply-side management strategy that leverages the Tradable Credit Scheme (TCS) to incentivize Ride-Hailing (RH) drivers to relocate from high-demand urban centers to surrounding neighborhoods. This spatial rebalancing aims to improve first/last-mile connectivity, boost public transit (PT) usage in urban centers, and enhance the integration of RH and PT for trips across districts for sustainable transportation. We employ the trip-based Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) framework to track travelers’ and RH drivers’ trajectories. Our model further integrates modules for travelers’ mode selection, driver operational decision-making, and network equilibrium to provide a comprehensive representation of the system dynamics. The results show that this approach effectively reduces RH selection, increases PT usage, and enhances RH-PT integration for trips between suburbs and the city center. By proposing the strategy and the dynamic evaluation framework, this study contributes to advancing supply-side management solutions for urban congestion and sustainable transportation systems.