Modelling the Integration of Autonomous and Shared Mobility Services in Non-Urban areas to Optimise Transport Equity and Reduce Environmental Impact

This research paper is a work in progress to establish if Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is a viable solution to the transport problem of servicing non-regular trips in non-urban areas. Public transport/shared transport and private cars is an important resource for people to get from their origin to their destination or vice versa. These origin-to-destination trips could be for example work commutes or shopping trips. With increased focus on sustainability from environmental and economic standpoints, more innovative means of public transport are being devised. Policies and goals such as the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have ensured that it is a priority that public transport becomes more sustainable and the level of private car usage decreases. While innovative transport solutions have been applied in urban centres and cities such as MaaS integration, ridesharing, and multimodal solutions, non-urban areas remain under-resourced. There are a few attributed reasons for poor non-urban transport solutions such as a lack of demand, sparsely populated areas, and the travel distances involved in supplying transport. The use of active modes such as walking and cycling is more challenging in non-urban areas due to the travel distances involved. The goal of this research is to develop an agent-based transport model with integrated MaaS services to establish whether MaaS transport could positively impact shared transport uptake in non-urban areas for non-regular journeys which consequently would lead to decreased private car usage, decreased emissions, improved social inclusion, and establishing how sustainable a MaaS solution is in these poorly serviced areas. This research also investigates whether attractive nodes, such as points of interest in the transport network, could also increase the uptake of shared transport.