On Mobility Equity and the Promise of Emerging Transportation Systems
Heeseung Bang, Aditya Dave, Filippos N. Tzortzoglou, Shanting Wang, Andreas A. Malikopoulos
TL;DR
This work defines MEM, a mobility-equity metric that combines Mobility Index $\varepsilon_i$ with a population-weighted Gini measure to quantify equitable access to essential services across a multi-modal transportation network. It formalizes the network model, computes $\varepsilon_i$ via isochrones and POI data, and evaluates MEM across 12 U.S. cities, illustrating how parameter choices affect equity. A system-planner routing framework is then proposed to maximize MEM in networks with both compliant and non-compliant vehicles, using a cognitive hierarchy model to capture bounded rationality and comparing results to Wardrop equilibrium. Boston-area simulations validate the approach, showing MEM improvements with higher public-transport shares and compliance, while highlighting trade-offs in travel-time disparity and the need for mode transfers and richer behavioral models in future work.”
Abstract
This paper introduces a mobility equity metric (MEM) for evaluating fairness and accessibility in multi-modal intelligent transportation systems. The MEM simultaneously accounts for service accessibility and transportation costs across different modes of transportation and social demographics. We provide a data-driven validation of the proposed MEM to characterize the impact of various parameters in the metric across cities in the U.S. We subsequently develop a routing framework that aims to optimize MEM within a transportation network containing both public transit and private vehicles. Within this framework, a system planner provides routing suggestions to vehicles across all modes of transportation to maximize MEM. We evaluate our approach through numerical simulations, analyzing the impact of travel demands and compliance of private vehicles. This work provides insights into designing transportation systems that are not only efficient but also equitable, ensuring fair access to essential services across diverse populations.