Are We There Yet? A Proposal for an Autonomous Taxi System in New Jersey and a Preliminary Foundation for Empty Vehicle Routing

Abstract

Vehicles are ubiquitous in society. They engender mobility, allow commerce to flourish, and increase the utility of all. However, inefficient systems cost people safety, money, and mobility. Fully automated vehicles, which have had massive recent technological success, offer solutions that address the issues with traditional human operated vehicles. This thesis seeks to take advantage of the benefits of autonomous vehicles by implementing an autonomous taxi system in New Jersey. First, this thesis outlines the design of a system of autonomous taxis (aTaxis) that permits ridesharing. The system will then be simulated; a fleet of aTaxis will be assembled and a synthesized dataset that contains specific travel behavior of all residents of New Jersey will be used to inform the system. The performance of this system under different parameters will be assessed for state of New Jersey. In particular, congestion reduction due to ridesharing will be examined. A framework for optimal empty vehicle routing will then be explored to gain even more efficiencies from the system.