Alejandro Tirachini

University of Twente and Universidad de Chile

Many authors have pointed out the importance of determining the impact of ride-hailing (ridesourcing) on vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT), and thus on transport externalities like congestion. However, to date there is scant evidence on this subject. In this paper we use survey results on Uber use by residents of Santiago, Chile, and information fr...

A discussion of the sustainability and travel behaviour impacts of ride-hailing is provided, based on an extensive literature review of studies from both developed and developing countries. The effects of ride-hailing on vehicle-kilometres travelled (VKT) and traffic externalities such as congestion, pollution and crashes are analysed. Modal substi...

It is currently unknown in which city environments, automated vehicles could be deployed at reasonable speeds, given safety concerns. We analytically and numerically assess the impact of automation for optimal vehicle size, service frequency, fare, subsidy and degree of economies of scale, by developing a model that is applied for electric vehicles...

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a great challenge for contemporary public transportation worldwide, resulting from an unprecedented decline in demand and revenue. In this paper, we synthesize the state-of-the-art, up to early June 2020, on key developments regarding public transportation and the COVID-19 pandemic, including the different responses adop...

Transporte público automatizado

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an unprecedented increase in telework, a trend expected to have lasting effects on the labor market and commuting patterns, including location preferences. Understanding the demand for telework is critical to face the challenges that may come in present and future scenarios with hybrid work arrangements. In this pape...

Este paper tiene como objetivo principal entregar recomendaciones metodológicas para el conteo automatizado de flujos vehiculares y peatonales mediante la utilización de cámaras y visión artificial. Para el desarrollo del estudio, se utiliza una herramienta deúltima generación DataFromSky, la cual permite desarrollar diferentes análisis de los fluj...

We analyse the sources of economies and diseconomies of scale in On-Demand Ridepooling (ODRP), disentangling three effects: when demand grows, average costs are reduced due to i) a larger fleet that diminishes waiting and walking times (Mohring Effect), and ii) matching users with more similar routes (Better-matching Effect). A counter-balance forc...

This chapter introduces the basic concepts of transport pricing theory applied to automated vehicles. Thestudy covers traditional private and public transport modes, plus shared mobility systems. We brieflyintroduce the expected benefits and shortcomings of the automated vehicle technology, and then analysethe effect of vehicle automation on the mo...

Transport workers were among the most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. In several countries, public transport and delivery drivers were considered essential workers during the pandemic, while the demand changed dramatically. In this context, little is known about the actual effects of the pandemic on the lives of drivers, and whether those effects...

Public transport is considered as one of the most suitable candidates to benefit from autonomous driving technologies. In this research, we develop a mathematical modeling framework to optimize service frequency and vehicle size for automated bus systems, while accounting for both user and operator costs. We explicitly consider travel time stochast...

Carefully collected data of nine station-based Bike Sharing Systems (BSS) observed during several years, feed the theoretical formulation of three (aggregated) strategic models representing BSS operation from which the optimal design and pricing is derived. The models include both the operator's costs (investment and operation) and users' costs (ti...

Governments around the globe have taken different measures to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, including the lockdown of people to decrease infections. The effect of such a strategy on transport demand is important not only for the current pandemic but also to understand changes in transport use and for future emergencies. We analyse a 2019–2020 datab...

Pooled-ride services have a significant potential for reducing traffic externalities and enhancing transportation systems in the urban environment. These services and their users’ characteristics still need further inspection and exploration. We investigated factors encouraging the shift from the currently used modes to pooled-ride-services, the ch...

Ridesourcing platforms have acquired an important role as an alternative travel mode in almost all major cities in the world. These new mobility applications offer benefits for users over traditional taxi and public transport alternatives. However, there is mounting evidence that ridesourcing worsens traffic congestion. Given this potential negativ...

The most relevant issues related to headway variability in public transport planning, operations and quality of service are reviewed in this paper. We discuss the causes and consequences of headway variability, the alternative metrics that have been proposed to measure it, the preventive and reactive strategies to control headway variability in bot...

Vehicle automation is expected to reduce the cost of shared demand-responsive transport (DRT) services. In this context, questions regarding the conditions under which fixed-route public transport can be replaced with shared on-demand services have emerged. The expected increase in competitiveness between fixed-route and on-demand services requires...

Urban public transportation agencies sometimes have to operate mixing vehicles of different sizes on their routes, due to resource limitations or historical reasons. Services with different passenger-carrying capacities are provided to passengers during a mixed-fleet operation. A fundamental question arising here is how to optimally deploy a given...

On-demand ridepooling (ODRP) can become a powerful alternative to reduce congestion and emissions, if it attracts private car users rather than from public transport. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the strategic phenomena that determine when ODRP systems can run efficiently, and understand when they could be integrated into a public transport...

Ridesourcing platforms have such as Uber, Lyft and others, have gained an important role as an alternative transport mode in almost all major cities of the world. These new mobility applications offer benefits for users over traditional public transport alternatives. However, there is mounting evidence that they also contribute to worsening traffic...

Este documento sintetiza los resultados obtenidos tras realizar una encuesta online autoaplicada entre los meses de Mayo y Agosto de 2020 a una muestra no probabilística de conductores y conductoras de Transantiago, de aplicaciones de transporte de pasajeros (Uber, Cabify, Beat y Didi) y de aplicaciones de delivery (CornerShop, PedidosYa, UberEats...

We propose a marginal tax reform model that includes both formal and informal sectors in the economy, traffic externalities (congestion, pollution, crashes and noise) and distributional concerns. The marginal cost of public funds (MCF) is derived for fuel taxes and public transport subsidies. The model is applied to Santiago, Chile. If MCFs are com...

Public transport provision requires substantial organisational efforts, careful planning, financial contributions from the public, and coordination between millions of passengers and staff members in large systems. Efficient resource allocation is critical in its daily operations. Therefore, public transport has been among the most popular subjects...

Subway is an urban transportation mode designed to carry large passenger volumes in dense urban areas. Developed all around the world since the end of the 19th century, subway systems have undergone successive innovations such as deep-level construction, electrification, and automation. The transport capacity of metro systems depends on the charact...

The choice of performance indicators in bus contracts is a complex problem for public transport regulators and financial incentives to provide a reliable service have been designed by several agencies. We study the issue of bus headway variability, focusing on headway variability at bus dispatching, which is a very relevant issue that has not been...

In a rapidly changing world, transportation is a big determinant of quality of life, financial growth and progress. New challenges (such as the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic) and opportunities (such as the three revolutions of shared, electric and automated mobility) are expected to drastically change the future mobility landscape. Researchers...

Automated driving technology along with electric propulsion are widely expected to fundamentally change our transport systems. They may not only allow a more productive use of travel time, but will likely trigger completely new business models in the mobility market. A key determinant of the future prospects of both existing and new mobility servic...

A control framework is developed that regulates a Metro-type rail line in the presence of disruptions while taking into account the tradeoff between user and operator (energy consumption) costs. Unlike approaches based solely on computational intensive optimization models, the proposed methodology is based on three eminently solvable analytical mod...

Studies in several cities indicate that ridesourcing (ride-hailing) may increase traffic and congestion, given the substitution of more sustainable modes and the addition of empty kilometers. On the other hand, there is little evidence if smartphone apps that target shared rides have any influence on reducing traffic levels. We study the effects of...

Results from a mobility survey from Chile during the COVID-19 pandemic show a decrease of 44% of trips in Santiago, with metro (55%), ride-hailing (51%), and bus (45%) presenting the highest reduction. Modes with the lowest reduction are motorcycle (28%), auto (34%), and walking (39%). While 77% of workers from low-income households had to go out a...

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a great challenge for contemporary public transportation worldwide, resulting from an unprecedented decline in demand and revenue. In this paper, we synthesize the state-of-the-art, up to early June 2020, on key developments regarding public transportation and the COVID-19 pandemic, including the different responses adop...

We propose a marginal tax reform model that includes both formal and informal sectors in the economy, traffic externalities (congestion, pollution, crashes and noise) and distributional concerns. The marginal cost of public funds (MCF) is derived for fuel taxes and public transport subsidies. The model is applied to Santiago, Chile. If MCFs are com...

We compare the person flow on cycle tracks and lanes for motorized traffic on seven streets in Santiago, Chile. In peak periods, we find that most streets have a higher person flow rate per lane using motor vehicles than riding bicycles. However, when the consumption of road space is considered, the conclusion is reversed as most cycle tracks achie...

In this paper, an in-depth examination of the use of ride-hailing (ridesourcing) in Santiago de Chile is presented based on data from an intercept survey implemented across the city in 2017. First, a sociodemographic analysis of ride-hailing users, usage habits, and trip characteristics is introduced, including a discussion of the substitution and...

Economies of scale and agglomeration induce the emergence of cities and transport is crucial to sustain their economic and social growth. This is particularly so in South America, where cities face a myriad set of challenges. The ownership of private cars grows faster than road infrastructure and than the availability and quality of public transpor...

This paper aims at better understanding passenger valuation of subway crowding in New York City. To this end, we conducted a stated preference survey with a discrete choice experiment where New Yorkers chose an alternative from a set of two hypothetical unlabeled subway routes based on occupancy levels and other attributes. We used the collected da...

Introducción La llegada a Chile de plataformas de transporte privado de pasajeros que funcionan mediante aplicaciones para teléfonos móviles (conocidas como ride-hailing o ridesourcing en inglés), como Uber, Cabify o Beat, ha implicado un fuerte impacto en nuestros sistemas de transporte, con repercusiones sociales en sus usuarios y conductores. E...

Movilidad como servicio Mobility as a service (MaaS) Ride-hailing Tecnologías disruptivas Efectos en comportamiento Efectos en externalidades

Crowding levels are very relevant for the analysis and evaluation of the performance of public transport as they strongly affect the level of service and the overall perceived quality of the system. However, crowding is not an easy variable to measure and, hence, demand models often tend to ignore or use abstract proxies for it. In this paper, we a...

Presentación con teoría sobre evasión en transporte público y algunos resultados en el sistema Transantiago de Santiago, Chile Foro sobre evasión en sistemas BRT enfocado en el sistema Transmilenio de Bogotá, Colombia Bogotá, Mayo de 2018.

Resumen: En el presente artículo se realiza un análisis descriptivo y econométrico de la encuesta Uso y Conocimiento de Plataformas Digitales de Transporte del Gran Santiago (CNP & Fundación Chile, 2018), referida al uso de plataformas ridesourcing como Uber y Cabify en la ciudad de Santiago. En primer lugar, se presenta un análisis sociodemográfi...

Chile es un país inseguro para transitar en sus calles, avenidas, caminos y carreteras. En nuestro país al año se producen cerca de 12 muertes en siniestros de tránsito por cada 100.000 habitantes, un valor muy superior al de los países con mejores prácticas en seguridad vial, según datos compilados por la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desa...

We build on the Santiago MATSim scenario, initially developed by Kickhöfer et al. (2016) with publicly available data. The principal sources of information hereby were the 2012 Origin-Destination Survey to build the initial travel diaries of the agents, OpenStreetMap to build the network, and GTFS files for public transport supply. In this paper, s...

Plataformas ridesourcing (tipo Uber y Cabify) en Chile: impactos en movilidad y recomendaciones para su regulación

The relationship between train occupancy, comfort and perceived security is analysed, using data from a survey and stated choice (SC) study of users of Santiago's Metro (subway) system. Mode choice models where crowding is one of the main explanatory variables are estimated and crowding multipliers to measure its relevance on travel time disutility...

Evasión en Transantiago: Elementos de diagnóstico y análisis que faltan

Se mide el flujo de personas en 7 ciclovías y pistas vehiculares adyacentes. Se busca comparar el flujos de personas en bicicletas y en vehículos motorizados, mediante 2 métricas. Se escoge calles en las comunas de Santiago y Providencia. Puntos de medición elegidos arbitrariamente. Se incluye ciclovías consolidadas y nuevas: alta varianza en flujo...

Láminas de clases sobre rotondas

Presentación en Comisión Obras Públicas, Transportes y Telecomunicaciones Cámara de Diputados Valparaíso, Chile

Sobre proyecto de ley que modifica la ley de tránsito, disposiciones para “convivencia de distintos modos de transporte”

The analysis of travel time variability (TTV) is attracting attention among policy makers due to the increasing awareness that users assign a high value to level-of-service attributes. In this paper, the TTV of cars and public transport trips is analysed. We estimate the effect of each trip stage on the TTV for complete door-to-door public transpor...

Revisión de literatura y propuesta de regulación de plataformas ridesourcing, como Uber y Cabify entre otras.

Motivación Evasión Transantiago en nivel insostenible – Principal problema de Transantiago hoy – Grave problema financiero – Grave problema ético-social Se propone paquete de medidas para reducir la evasión del pago de tarifa en Transantiago.

The estimation of differences in the value of in-vehicle time sitting and standing is usually made with stated choice (SC) data, partly due to the lack of revealed preference data. In this paper, we use the observed behaviour of a subset of metro users in Singapore, who are willing to travel a longer time (into the opposite direction or backwards)...

This paper presents a general framework to estimate the bus user time benefits of a median busway including the effects on travel time and access time. Unlike previous models, we take into account the effects of geometry and the interaction with the demand structure. Models for predicting the bus in-vehicle time benefits of a median dual carriagewa...

In this paper, marginal cost-pricing rules are applied to an agent-based model. User-specific optimal bus fares are estimated by simulating user interactions at a microscopic level. We consider external effects of prolonged in-vehicle and waiting times (including the effect of full buses on boarding denials) induced by passengers boarding vehicles....

This paper presents an analytic framework to measure the spatial segregation caused by reducing or forbidding the free movement of pedestrians, due to the existence of a highway or other type of transport facility with barriers that prevent pedestrians from crossing it. First, using empirical data from Berlin, London, Sydney and Santiago, it is sho...

A number of studies have shown that in addition to travel time and cost as the common influences on mode, route and departure time choices, travel time variability plays an increasingly important role, especially in the presence of traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport. The dominant focus of modelling and implementation of op...