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A dynamic clustering method for relocation process in free-floating vehicle sharing systems

Caggiani, Leonardo ; Camporeale, Rosalia LU and Ottomanelli, Michele (2017) In Transportation Research Procedia 27. p.278-285
Abstract

Recently, vehicle sharing emerged as a new type of mobility service. In particular, if these systems happen to be free-floating, their operating area is typically located within the city and vehicles could be picked-up and parked in any permitted spot, and not only at predetermined stations. This specific feature enables everyone to pick-up and drop-off a rented vehicle close to his demand points, with no need to visit a station before or after the ride, granting greater flexibility for users together with the opportunity of a shorter trip. Free-floating systems, due to their inherent characteristics, are becoming more popular; however, at the same time, they involve additional operational challenges especially in facing the relocation... (More)

Recently, vehicle sharing emerged as a new type of mobility service. In particular, if these systems happen to be free-floating, their operating area is typically located within the city and vehicles could be picked-up and parked in any permitted spot, and not only at predetermined stations. This specific feature enables everyone to pick-up and drop-off a rented vehicle close to his demand points, with no need to visit a station before or after the ride, granting greater flexibility for users together with the opportunity of a shorter trip. Free-floating systems, due to their inherent characteristics, are becoming more popular; however, at the same time, they involve additional operational challenges especially in facing the relocation processes, namely displacing vehicles from areas with higher concentration toward those with a higher request of the service. Similar to the station based ones, free-floating vehicle shared-use systems deal with significant fluctuations in demand, depending on day/time and area of a city. Therefore, we suggest a methodology for generating a dynamic zone clustering in order to define cost-efficient relocation strategies. The aim of the proposed flexible clusterization is identifying the optimal size and number of areas among which perform an effective and enhanced vehicle repositioning, reducing the necessity to move vehicles from one zone to another and, accordingly, shrinking the relocation costs. The proposed method is applied to a test case study, in order to verify the accuracy of the suggested model.

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author
; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
clustering techniques, free-floating, vehicle relocation, vehicle sharing
in
Transportation Research Procedia
volume
27
pages
8 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85039932443
ISSN
2352-1465
DOI
10.1016/j.trpro.2017.12.146
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
25277011-2829-46ef-a345-f7eccba11829
date added to LUP
2018-09-25 10:19:17
date last changed
2022-03-09 20:44:02
@article{25277011-2829-46ef-a345-f7eccba11829,
  abstract     = {{<p>Recently, vehicle sharing emerged as a new type of mobility service. In particular, if these systems happen to be free-floating, their operating area is typically located within the city and vehicles could be picked-up and parked in any permitted spot, and not only at predetermined stations. This specific feature enables everyone to pick-up and drop-off a rented vehicle close to his demand points, with no need to visit a station before or after the ride, granting greater flexibility for users together with the opportunity of a shorter trip. Free-floating systems, due to their inherent characteristics, are becoming more popular; however, at the same time, they involve additional operational challenges especially in facing the relocation processes, namely displacing vehicles from areas with higher concentration toward those with a higher request of the service. Similar to the station based ones, free-floating vehicle shared-use systems deal with significant fluctuations in demand, depending on day/time and area of a city. Therefore, we suggest a methodology for generating a dynamic zone clustering in order to define cost-efficient relocation strategies. The aim of the proposed flexible clusterization is identifying the optimal size and number of areas among which perform an effective and enhanced vehicle repositioning, reducing the necessity to move vehicles from one zone to another and, accordingly, shrinking the relocation costs. The proposed method is applied to a test case study, in order to verify the accuracy of the suggested model.</p>}},
  author       = {{Caggiani, Leonardo and Camporeale, Rosalia and Ottomanelli, Michele}},
  issn         = {{2352-1465}},
  keywords     = {{clustering techniques; free-floating; vehicle relocation; vehicle sharing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{278--285}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Transportation Research Procedia}},
  title        = {{A dynamic clustering method for relocation process in free-floating vehicle sharing systems}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2017.12.146}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.trpro.2017.12.146}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}