Dynamic incentive scheme for rental vehicle fleet management

Abstract

Mobility on Demand is a new transportation paradigm aimed to provide sustainable transportation in urban settings with a fleet of electric vehicles. Usage scenarios prpopsed by Mobility on Demand systems must allow one-way rentals. However, one-way rentals bring significant challenges to fleet management because areas of high demand will tend to lose their inventory, whereas areas of low demand will tend to accumulate inventory. Dynamic incentives can be provided to encourage different usage patterns and alleviate the problem of demand asymmetry. This thesis proposes a dynamic incentive scheme for rental vehicle fleet management in the context of Mobility on Demand. Simulation using Vienna taxi data shows the scheme to be effective at maintaining the equalibrium state of the fleet. It holds great promise to be incorporated in a real-world deployment of Mobility on Demand system.