Performance Comparison of Reservation Based and Instant Access One-Way Car Sharing Service through Discrete Event Simulation

Abstract

Abstract:A car sharing service has been highlighted as a new urban transport alternative for an environmentally friendly economy. As the demand for the service from customers increases, car sharing operators need to introduce a new service such as a one-way option that will allow customers to return the car to different stations. Due to the complexity of the one-way system, it needs to be managed and optimized for real cases. This paper focuses on developing a simulation model in order to help operators evaluate the performance of the one-way service. In addition, this research demonstrates a strategy for an open one-way service that can increase revenue and customer satisfaction. A real case dataset is used for investigation to find the best result from the simulation. The result showed that the total number of cars, number of one-way reservations and station size have an impact on one-way performance. Thus, company profit and customer satisfaction can be maximized by optimizing these factors.

Performance Analysis of a Forecasting Relocation Model for One-Way Carsharing

“…As a solution, in this study the trip generator generated the same amount of round-trip and one-way reservations for the week, i.e., 50% round-trip, 50% one-way. In addition, regarding the distribution of one-way and round-trip reservations, Alfian et al has revealed its impact on the system performance [25]. The study showed that as the distribution of one-way reservations increases, the utilization ratio as well as the acceptance ratio will be reduced.…”

“…The current study set the station and staff size as unlimited, and focused only on comparing relocation models. Alfian et al also showed that the distribution of one-way and round-trip service reservations will affect system performance [25]. Increasing the number of customers (reservations) will decrease the acceptance ratio (more reservations are rejected by the system), whereas increasing the number of cars increases the acceptance ratio (more reservations are accepted by the system).…”

“…The current study set the station and staff size as unlimited, and focused only on comparing relocation models. Alfian et al also showed that the distribution of one-way and round-trip service reservations will affect system performance [25].…”

“…Current services allow customer flexibility such as instant access (i.e., no reservations). Alfian et al [25] compared instant access and reservation based one-way system performances by discrete event simulation, and showed that reservation based systems were better in terms of the utilization ratio and customer satisfaction (acceptance ratio). Reservation systems also help the operator to maximize car operation by minimizing uncertain return cars from previous customers.…”

“…Alfian et al showed that station size also affects the utilization and acceptance ratio [25]. Nourinejad discussed other potential inputs, such as the number of relocation staff, that also affect system performance [30].…”