In recent years, the rapid growth of on-demand delivery services, especially in food deliveries, has spurred the exploration of innovative mobility solutions. In this context, lightweight autonomous vehicles have emerged as a potential alternative. However, their fleet-level behavior remains largely unexplored. To address this gap, we have developed an agent-based model and an environmental impact study assessing the fleet performance of lightweight autonomous food delivery vehicles. This model explores critical factors such as fleet sizing, service level, operational strategies, and environmental impacts. We have applied this model to a case study in Cambridge, MA, USA, where results indicate that there could be significant environmental benefits in replacing traditional car-based deliveries with shared lightweight autonomous vehicle fleets. Lastly, we introduce an interactive platform that offers a user-friendly means of comprehending the model’s performance and potential trade-offs, which can help inform decision-makers in the evolving landscape of food delivery innovation.


    Access

    Download


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Shared Lightweight Autonomous Vehicles for Urban Food Deliveries: A Simulation Study


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2024




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    Unknown




    Two-echelon urban deliveries using autonomous vehicles

    Yu, Shaohua / Puchinger, Jakob / Sun, Shudong | Elsevier | 2020


    Shared Autonomous Vehicles Ontology

    de Sousa Boieiro, Pedro / da Silva, Miguel Mira / Santoro, Flavia Maria et al. | Springer Verlag | 2022


    Preferences for shared autonomous vehicles

    Krueger, Rico | Online Contents | 2016


    Preferences for shared autonomous vehicles

    Krueger, Rico / Rashidi, Taha H. / Rose, John M. | Elsevier | 2016


    Dynamic shared autonomous vehicles dispatching algorithm

    Rong, Shaoling / Tang, Chongwu / Chen, Min | VDE-Verlag | 2022