Simulation-based methodologies are extensively used to explore CCAM solutions and evaluate the effectiveness of such a service and its ability to satisfy a travel demand and quality criteria. These approaches are performed on given geographical use cases, focusing on targeted studies and CCAM services specific to a local environment.
Existing tools are extended in SINFONICA to build a specific simulation framework that considers the inclusiveness of CCAM services and their effects on heterogeneous users. This simulation framework is used to investigate the capability of existing fleet dispatch algorithms to support travellers with mobility challenges, uncover discriminatory behaviour and identify solution pathways.
However, as such simulation frameworks require a strong theoretical and practical knowledge to deploy, they are typically not available to non-experts. The next contribution of IRT SystemX in SINFONICA will address this issue.
A user-friendly interface for large-scale CCAM simulations
In the next months IRT SystemX will deliver a decision support tool for CCAM services design, building upon the SINFONICA simulation framework. The ambition of this tool provide innovation functionalities for both simulation experts and non-expert CCAM stakeholders: operators, local authorities, potential users… This decision support tool will bring extended understanding of the key characteristics that make a CCAM service efficient and inclusive.
The tool will allow users to configure a CCAM service scenarios by specifying its global characteristics (door-to-door, pick-up areas, serviced area), the offer (e.g. number of vehicles and vehicle capacity), operational characteristics (e.g. cost of operation, availability of pre-booking), user-related constraints (e.g. maximum wait time, time required for pickup and drop-off). After a CCAM scenario is simulated, users will then be able visualize and explore the results in the form of structured Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): user-centric indicators, operating-related indicators, economic indicators and socio-environmental indicators. By May 2025, this tool will support all SINFONICA research sites, allowing users to simulate CCAM services on various European cities. Being genuinely replicable, this decision support tools aims at fostering the local assessment of CCAM benefits for EU mobility.
Authors: Tarek Chouaki, Sebastian Hörl, Yann Briand (IRT SystemX)
Keywords: CCAM fleet services, CCAM service design, decision support tool
