Abstract

In this paper, a simulation model of the novel concept of autonomous vehicles is developed for public transport (PT) service. The model aims to serve PT planners as a tool enabling the simulation of a metro-like, high-frequency service with punctual autonomous vehicles running on exclusive lanes. The model was applied in a numerical example of a passenger bus, with different scenarios employed. The outcome of the simulation shows that characteristics of the modelled system are reproduced, with the following results: (i) highfrequency, metro-like PT service, with reduced passenger waiting time, (ii) reduced vehicle capacity with reduced average dwell time; (iii) the least number of unserved passengers, across all scenarios, and (iv) better utilisation of vehicle capacity (with fewer unserved passengers) achieved through a small decrease in vehicle frequency, which led to a negligible increase of the average passenger waiting times. In addition, the model allows us to examine the system’s behaviour under uncertainty, considering passenger arrivals and vehicle headways as random input variables with predefined probability distributions. The proposed model enables modellers not only to evaluate a system’s performance, but also to examine different working conditions and possible future scenarios.