TY - JOUR
T1 - Optimizing matching time interval and matching radius in on-demand ride-sourcing markets
AU - Yang, Hai
AU - Qin, Xiaoran
AU - Ke, Jintao
AU - Ye, Jieping
N1 - Funding Information:
The work described in this paper was supported by a grant from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council under Project HKUST16208619 and an NSFC/RGC Joint Research Grant N_HKUST627/18. This work was also supported by Didi Chuxing. We thank the guest editor and the three reviewers, whose useful comments have helped us improve the exposition of this study.
Funding Information:
The work described in this paper was supported by a grant from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council under Project HKUST16208619 and an NSFC/RGC Joint Research Grant N_HKUST627/18 . This work was also supported by Didi Chuxing. We thank the guest editor and the three reviewers, whose useful comments have helped us improve the exposition of this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
PY - 2020/1
Y1 - 2020/1
N2 - With the availability of the location information of drivers and passengers, ride-sourcing platforms can now provide increasingly efficient online matching compared with physical searching and meeting performed in the traditional taxi market. The matching time interval (the time interval over which waiting passengers and idle drivers are accumulated and then subjected to peer-to-peer matching) and matching radius (or maximum allowable pick-up distance, within which waiting passengers and idle drivers can be matched or paired) are two key control variables that a platform can employ to optimize system performance in an online matching system. By appropriately extending the matching time interval, the platform can accumulate large numbers of waiting (or unserved) passengers and idle drivers and thus match the two pools with a reduced expected pick-up distance. However, if the matching time interval is excessively long, certain passengers may become impatient and even abandon their requests. Meanwhile, a short matching radius can reduce the expected pick-up distance but may decrease the matching rate as well. Therefore, the matching time interval and matching radius should be optimized to enhance system efficiency in terms of passenger waiting time, vehicle utilization, and matching rate. This study proposes a model that delineates the online matching process in ride-sourcing markets. The model is then used to examine the impact of the matching time interval and matching radius on system performance and to jointly optimize the two variables under different levels of supply and demand. Numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate how the proposed modeling and optimization approaches can improve the real-time matching of ride-sourcing platforms.
AB - With the availability of the location information of drivers and passengers, ride-sourcing platforms can now provide increasingly efficient online matching compared with physical searching and meeting performed in the traditional taxi market. The matching time interval (the time interval over which waiting passengers and idle drivers are accumulated and then subjected to peer-to-peer matching) and matching radius (or maximum allowable pick-up distance, within which waiting passengers and idle drivers can be matched or paired) are two key control variables that a platform can employ to optimize system performance in an online matching system. By appropriately extending the matching time interval, the platform can accumulate large numbers of waiting (or unserved) passengers and idle drivers and thus match the two pools with a reduced expected pick-up distance. However, if the matching time interval is excessively long, certain passengers may become impatient and even abandon their requests. Meanwhile, a short matching radius can reduce the expected pick-up distance but may decrease the matching rate as well. Therefore, the matching time interval and matching radius should be optimized to enhance system efficiency in terms of passenger waiting time, vehicle utilization, and matching rate. This study proposes a model that delineates the online matching process in ride-sourcing markets. The model is then used to examine the impact of the matching time interval and matching radius on system performance and to jointly optimize the two variables under different levels of supply and demand. Numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate how the proposed modeling and optimization approaches can improve the real-time matching of ride-sourcing platforms.
KW - Matching radius
KW - Matching time interval
KW - Online matching
KW - Ride-sourcing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075967869&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.trb.2019.11.005
DO - 10.1016/j.trb.2019.11.005
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85075967869
SN - 0191-2615
VL - 131
SP - 84
EP - 105
JO - Transportation Research Part B: Methodological
JF - Transportation Research Part B: Methodological
ER -