A general framework for modeling shared autonomous vehicles with dynamic network-loading and dynamic ride-sharing application

Shared autonomous vehicles could provide low-cost service to travelers and possibly replace the need for personal vehicles. Previous studies found that each SAV could service multiple travelers, thereby eliminating several personal vehicle trips, and strategies such as preemptive relocation or dynamic ride-sharing could further improve service. However, a major limitation of previous studies is the reliance on custom software packages with unrealistic congestion models, network structures, or travel demand. For effective comparisons with personal vehicle scenarios, a common traffic flow simulator is necessary. This paper develops an event-based framework for implementing SAV behavior in existing traffic simulation models. We demonstrate this framework by implementing SAV behavior in a cell transmission model-based dynamic traffic assignment simulator. We also study a heuristic approach for dynamic ride-sharing. We compared personal vehicles and SAV scenarios on the downtown Austin city network. Without dynamic ride-sharing, the addi-