The Role of Urban Form in the Performance of Shared Automated Vehicles

TL;DR

This study investigates how urban form factors like density, connectivity, and land use diversity influence the efficiency and sustainability of Shared Automated Vehicles through simulation data from 286 cities.

Contribution

It identifies key urban form measurements that impact SAV performance, filling a gap in understanding how city design affects SAV system sustainability.

Findings

Denser cities with connected networks improve SAV efficiency.

Urban form influences SAV-generated VMT and sustainability.

Simulation results can inform land use and transportation policies.

Abstract

The technology of Shared Automated Vehicles (SAVs) has advanced significantly in recent years. However, existing SAV studies primarily focus on the system design while limited studies have examined the impacts of exogenous variables, especially urban form, on SAV performance. Therefore, it remains unclear what key urban form measurements may influence SAV system's sustainability. This study fills the research gap by conducting simulation experiments using data collected from 286 cities. This study identifies critical urban form measurements correlated with the simulated SAV performance using fixed effects regression models. The results suggest that SAVs are more efficient and generate less VMT in denser cities with more connected networks and diversified land use development patterns. The model results can help provide insights on land use and transportation policies to curb the adverse effects of SAVs in the future and generalize existing SAV simulation results to the rest of U.S. cities.