A seamless bus network without external transfers using autonomous modular vehicles

Recently, autonomous modular vehicles (AMVs) capable of enabling in-motion transfer (IMT), i.e. passengers moving between vehicles while the vehicles are traveling, have been developed. IMT allows new paradigms for public transport operations that can enhance the speed, flexibility, and reliability of the system. We leverage IMT technology to propose the first network-wide seamless, stop-less bus service concept. We recently introduced the concept of a Stop-Less Autonomous Modular (SLAM) bus service, which eliminates the need for passengers to stop at each bus stop while traveling along a bus line. The current work extends this paradigm to the network level by developing a bus service framework in which multiple SLAM bus lines operating on main arterials interact by exchanging pods among each other to provide passengers with a travel experience that not only eliminates most extra passenger stops within a single line, but also eliminates external transfers, i.e. it removes the need to disembark at a bus stop to change buses when transferring from one bus line to another. The result is a high-speed service that provides a completely seamless journey from the passenger’s origin stop to destination stop anywhere in the coverage area, with integrated (i.e. internal) transfers that take place inside the vehicles themselves while they are in-motion. Our results show that while the proposed service has more stringent operating requirements than a comparable conventional bus service, it provides significantly superior performance, reducing passengers’ travel cost by up to 35% under realistic system settings. • Use in-motion transfers (IMT) to develop network-wide seamless bus service concept. • Extend stop-less autonomous modular (SLAM) bus concept from single line to network. • Develop a framework in which multiple SLAM bus lines interact by exchanging pods. • Service eliminates need to disembark to change buses when transferring between lines. • Use simulation to assess performance compared to a conventional bus service. • Service reduces passengers’ travel cost by up to 35% under realistic system settings.