Shared Automated Vehicle Toolkit: Policies and Planning Considerations for Implementation (2022)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

66 Pooling, or the sharing of rides between travelers with similar origin-destination pairings, can provide a variety of benefits for individuals, employers, and society. These benefits can be achieved through strategies implemented by stakeholders in the public and private sectors. This chapter provides information on pooling, the potential benefits, and how AVs can support pooling. Tools to Support Pooling Tools included in this chapter: • Potential benefits of pooling for individuals, employers, and society. • List of potential barriers to pooling. • List of strategies to support pooling by stakeholders. In pooled rides, passengers use the same, shared mode of transportation at once. Pooled services include ridesharing (carpooling and vanpooling); ridesplitting (a pooled version of TNCs); taxi sharing; and microtransit (Shaheen and Cohen 2018b). In the future, similar to the use of some MOD modes, rides in AVs may be pooled. Researchers predict three possible scenarios: 1. Privately owned AVs are used exclusively by their owners for individual rides. 2. SAVs are used without shared rides (i.e., users access a fleet of shared AVs, but do not share rides). 3. Pooled rides in privately owned AVs and SAVs become more common through the support of targeted policies, automation improving route efficiency, increasing cost efficiency, and improved convenience. Although average occupancies for privately owned AVs and SAVs are unknown, proactive public policy can help encourage pooling and discourage zero- and single-occupant vehicle (ZOV/SOV) use. Potential Benefits of Pooling Sharing or pooling rides could result in a variety of benefits for individuals, employers, and society outlined here. Individuals • Increased Accessibility: Pooling may increase access for households who do not have access to a vehicle (e.g., low-income households). C H A P T E R   1 0 Pooling

Pooling 67   • Cost Savings: Pooling may allow commuters to save money through shared toll costs, fuel costs, and other associated commuting costs. • Increased Convenience: Pooling benefits (e.g., HOV lane access, preferential parking) may improve commuting convenience. • Financial and Tax Benefits: Pooling may provide riders with tax deductions and other finan- cial benefits (e.g., cash bonus) if current tax law can be applied to pooled AVs. Employers • Reduced Parking Demand: Reducing the number of vehicle trips may allow for reduced parking demand which can save capital and maintenance costs of parking. • Increased Productivity and Morale: Pooling may reduce commute stress through shared driving responsibilities, reduced travel times, and preferential parking. • Financial and Tax Benefits: The public sector can offer a variety of tax deductions, credits, and other incentives for pooling. Society • Decreased Congestion: Studies have shown that carpooling programs may reduce VMT and vehicle trips. However, pooling may also contribute to induced demand. • Decreased Fuel Consumption and Vehicular Emissions: Pooling may reduce fuel con- sumption and vehicular emissions (i.e., criteria pollutants, greenhouse gas, etc.) through a reduction in VMT and vehicular trips. Empirical and anecdotal evidence indicates that pooling provides numerous benefits, such as reductions in energy consumption and emissions, congestion mitigation, and reduced parking demand. In addition, efficient SAV routing could support pooling, while minimizing travel-time impacts. Pooled SAV rides could result in reduced energy use by up to 55% and GHG reduc- tions of up to 90% (Shaheen and Bouzaghrane 2019). However, the precise magnitude of these impacts is not well understood today or in an AV future. Individually, users who share a ride typically benefit from shared travel costs, preferential access to infrastructure (i.e., HOV lanes, parking for pooled vehicles), and other incentives. Salt Lake City and RideAmigos In 2014, as part of the Utah Department of Transportation Clean Air Challenge, Salt Lake City, Utah, partnered with RideAmigos, a private, cloud-based commuter management company, to encourage residents to use transportation modes other than single-occupancy trips in personal vehicles. Salt Lake City used RideAmigos’ transportation demand management software as a service to provide residents with real-time information on other transportation modes. Over the course of the yearlong challenge, providing residents with alternative transportation modes through the RideAmigos platform resulted in • 6,800 participants, • $750,000 in gas saved by participants, • 15,933,400 calories burned by participants taking active transportation modes instead of driving, • 2,199,970 miles logged on alternative transportation modes, and • 651 tons of CO2 eliminated. Source: Vakharia 2015.

68 Shared Automated Vehicle Toolkit: Policies and Planning Considerations for Implementation Potential Barriers to Pooling Despite the potential benefits that pooling AVs may result in, some barriers may challenge AV pooling. Different stakeholders may be faced with different barriers to pooling. Potential barriers to pooling by public agencies, organizations, and riders include: Public Agencies • Funding Limitations: Existing budgets and financial resource allocations may need to be reevaluated to identify financial resources for supporting pooling programs and pooled rides. • Infrastructure Support: Infrastructure that supports pooling (e.g., HOV lanes, toll reduc- tions) may need to be implemented. • Internal Capabilities: Agencies may need to retrain or rehire staff members to develop and implement pooling programs. Organizations • Lack of Programmatic Support: Existing programs to support pooling may not be in place and may need to be developed or redeveloped. • Education and Outreach: Particularly for new pooling programs, organizations may need to conduct education and outreach efforts to make potential riders aware of available services. • Funding Limitations: Existing budgets and financial resource allocations may need to be reevaluated to identify financial resources for supporting pooling programs and pooled rides. Riders • Education and Outreach: Potential riders may be unaware of existing or new pooling services and require education and outreach efforts. • Incentives: Riders and drivers may want incentives to engage in pooling activities (e.g., closer parking spots, financial rewards). • Safety Concerns: Riders may have safety concerns with pooling, particularly if the service is offered in an ad hoc manner and is not regulated by public agencies (e.g., riding with strang- ers, sharing personal and/or location information). Strategies to Support Pooling A variety of stakeholders can apply strategies to support pooling and address potential chal- lenges. Pooling strategies may be based on vehicle occupancy, as detailed in Table 15. Occupancy Characteristics Description Zero No driver or passengers in the vehicle. Fully automated vehicle driving to/from a parked location. Single One passenger in the vehicle. One passenger riding in a fully automated vehicle. One driver in the vehicle. One driver operating a non-automated vehicle. Delivery. ADV or freight vehicle carrying goods to be delivered. High- occupancy Multiple passengers (2+). At least two passengers riding in a fully automated vehicle; may or may not share destination and origin. Multiple passengers (2+). One driver and one or more passengers in a non-automated vehicle. Table 15. Vehicle occupancy types.

Pooling 69   Occupancy-based or other pooling strategies can be employed by stakeholders, such as the federal and state governments, local and regional agencies, and employers. These stakeholders may also enter agreements to support pooling. Appendix A-10: “Sample Policy Agreement for Pooling” includes an example of a policy agreement for stakeholders to support pooling. Addi- tionally, the “Pooling” section of Appendix B: “Sample Policies” includes an example policy to support pooling. State and Federal Governments State and federal agencies can support pooling by: • Demand Management: Policies may require commute trip reduction or the use of trans- portation demand management (TDM) programs to increase the number of pooled rides. In an AV context, this could include prohibiting ZOV and SOV trips during peak periods, pricing ZOV and SOV trips during peak periods (and other times), and requiring employers and property managers to obtain a minimum average vehicle occupancy (e.g., an average of 2+ people per an AV). • Roadway Design: Public agencies can dedicate infrastructure for pooled AVs (e.g., pooled AV-only lanes) that offer reduced travel times for pooled trips. • Tax Incentives: The Internal Revenue Code and state laws could be adapted to incentivize employers to provide pooled AVs (i.e., SAVs, automated shuttles) by providing tax incen- tives for these programs. • Vehicle Design: Public agencies can support or require the development of AVs that are con- ducive to pooled rides by offering incentives (e.g., grants) or using deterrents (e.g., increased taxes and fees). Vehicles may be designed similar to General Motors’ (GM) recent debut of their Origin model vehicle for Cruise’s AV services. This model has doors on either side that open from the center (rather than on hinges), seats that face inward to maximize passenger leg room and comfort, wireless internet access in the vehicle, and charging ports for personal devices (Wayland and Kolodny 2020). • Expand Pre-Tax Transportation Benefits to Pooled AVs: With pre-tax public transit ben- efits, employees can elect to withhold funding from their paycheck. Those funds are used to purchase fares for public transit or vanpools. The employee is not taxed on the funding with- held, and the employer does not pay employment taxes on those funds. The federal govern- ment could expand this pre-tax transportation benefit for employees that use pooled AVs for commuting to work. Local and Regional Governments Local and regional agencies can support pooling through a variety of methods including: • Occupancy-Based Pricing: Local and regional agencies can levy road-use charges on ZOVs and SOVs to discourage low-occupancy trips. These fees could be assessed to fleet operators and/or consumers. • Demand Management: Similar to state and federal agencies, local and regional agencies may be able to implement trip reduction and TDM programs to support pooling. • Prioritizing Infrastructure for Pooling: Local and regional governments could dedicate prioritized infrastructure for pooling, such as HOV lanes and loading zones, specifically for pooled AVs. Public agencies could also provide signal prioritization for pooled AVs to pro- vide travel-time savings and encourage ridesharing. • Transportation Demand Management Programs: Agencies can require employers and other organizations to implement a variety of TDM strategies, such as limiting the number of vehicular trips, requiring minimum average vehicle occupancy, and requiring employers to implement a trip reduction program that includes measures that reduce ZOV and SOV use and/or encourage HOV use.

70 Shared Automated Vehicle Toolkit: Policies and Planning Considerations for Implementation Private Sector The private sector can support pooling through strategies, such as: • Administrative Support: Employers can provide administrative support to facilitate pooling (e.g., marketing and outreach, providing digital tools to match riders), particularly during employee onboarding. • Incentives: Providing incentives (e.g., cash for commuters, closer parking spaces for pooled rides) to encourage pooled AV rides. • Subsidizing Pooled Rides: Employers could subsidize the employee cost of pooled AVs. • Prioritized Loading Zones: Organizations may dedicate infrastructure for pooled AV loading zones. Through design, non-pooled rides should be discouraged by requiring single-occupant passengers to walk farther between loading zones and facility entrances. Pennsylvania Vanpool Incentive Program In 2017, the Pennsylvania DOT launched the Pennsylvania Vanpool Incentive Program (PVIP). The goal of the program is to offer an affordable transportation option to residents without access to fixed-route transit trips to work (typically residents of rural areas). The PVIP offered financial incentives for the development of new vanpool services. These incentives varied based on vehicle capacity (i.e., number of seats available), number of years the program was in operation, and ADA accessibility. During its initial launch, the Pennsylvania DOT allocated one million dollars to the program. Source: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 2017. COVID-19 and Pooling During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines and recommended protocols for pooled or shared rides. Key recommendations include: • Self-Isolation: Passengers, drivers, and operators should stay home if they feel any symptoms of COVID-19. • Face Masks: All parties should wear cloth facial coverings to reduce the potential spread of infection. • Contact: Contact and interaction should be limited by not offering pooled rides, distancing passengers and operators whenever possible, keeping windows open for air circulation, implementing a barrier between drivers or operators and passengers, and reducing contact with commonly touched/shared surfaces. • Cleaning: Vehicles should be equipped with adequate cleaning supplies and sanitized regularly. • Preventative Actions: Proper hygiene practices such as frequent hand washings, using tissues, and avoiding touching faces should be followed regularly. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2020.

Pooling 71   Key Takeaways • In the future, AVs could be privately owned and/or accessed using on-demand SAV fleets. SAVs may be used without shared rides (i.e., users access a fleet of shared AVs but do not share rides). While the impacts of AVs are uncertain, probable impacts will likely be con- tingent on the degree to which SAV fleets are shared and average vehicle occupancy. • Pooling may result in a variety of impacts, such as reductions in energy consumption and emissions, congestion mitigation, and reduced parking demand. • Strategies to support pooling may be implemented by the public and private sectors, such as designing roadways to accommodate AVs and subsidizing pooled rides.