Towards Efficient, Fair and Resilient Robotaxi Deployment
Funded by CCAT 2025 – 2026, Joint with Yafeng Yin, Sina Bahrami and Siqian Shen at University of Michigan
Abstract
The commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) for on-demand mobility services, referred to as robotaxis, has advanced significantly in the past year. Waymo currently operates robotaxis in three U.S. cities and plans to expand to two more by early next year. In China, Baidu’s Apollo Go has launched its robotaxi program in 11 cities by mid-2024. As autonomous driving technology continues to advance, transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft may begin integrating driverless vehicles into their fleets, which are currently dominated by human-driven vehicles. Moreover, private AV owners may wish to share their vehicles with others—potentially through TNCs or other robotaxi operators—when not in use. These developments will eventually put transit agencies on notice: to stay relevant and competitive, they too will have to adapt by adopting the technology themselves, forming strategic partnerships with other mobility providers, or both.
Given the drastic changes that the widespread adoption of robotaxis might set in motion, there is a crucial need to understand and coordinate the decisions of various stakeholders, including regulators, transit agencies, robotaxi operators, TNC drivers, private AV owners, and regular travelers. To this end, the objectives of our project are to: (i) address the potential equity implications for human drivers who are currently employed by TNCs but face competition from AVs; (ii) characterize the complex interactions between stakeholders so that their optimal courses of action may be determined; and (iii) design a sequential national robotaxi deployment strategy that properly anticipates systemic uncertainty.
Overall, this CCAT project will shed light on the impact of robotaxi deployment on both the demand and supply sides of the personal mobility market. It will also produce useful analytical tools to support relevant decision-making processes in both the short term and the long term.