Reproducibility in the Control of Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand Systems

TL;DR

This paper systematically examines reproducibility issues in Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand (AMoD) control research, proposing guidelines and a checklist to enhance transparency, comparability, and scientific progress in this rapidly evolving field.

Contribution

It offers a structured framework and practical guidelines to improve reproducibility in AMoD control research, addressing current gaps and challenges.

Findings

Identifies key sources of irreproducibility in AMoD research

Surveys current practices and highlights reproducibility gaps

Proposes a reproducibility checklist and guidelines

Abstract

Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand (AMoD) systems, powered by advances in robotics, control, and Machine Learning (ML), offer a promising paradigm for future urban transportation. AMoD offers fast and personalized travel services by leveraging centralized control of autonomous vehicle fleets to optimize operations and enhance service performance. However, the rapid growth of this field has outpaced the development of standardized practices for evaluating and reporting results, leading to significant challenges in reproducibility. As AMoD control algorithms become increasingly complex and data-driven, a lack of transparency in modeling assumptions, experimental setups, and algorithmic implementation hinders scientific progress and undermines confidence in the results. This paper presents a systematic study of reproducibility in AMoD research. We identify key components across the research pipeline, spanning system modeling, control problems, simulation design, algorithm specification, and evaluation, and analyze common sources of irreproducibility. We survey prevalent practices in the literature, highlight gaps, and propose a structured framework to assess and improve reproducibility. Specifically, concrete guidelines are offered, along with a "reproducibility checklist", to support future work in achieving replicable, comparable, and extensible results. While focused on AMoD, the principles and practices we advocate generalize to a broader class of cyber-physical systems that rely on networked autonomy and data-driven control. This work aims to lay the foundation for a more transparent and reproducible research culture in the design and deployment of intelligent mobility systems.