Public agencies and state and local governments often impose various regulations on shared mobility services. These regulations vary widely by place and mode, and the costs and benefits of these regulations are poorly understood. This project aims to categorize shared mobility regulations, identify their intents and impacts, and to better understand the balance of regulations.
Autonomous vehicles, both individual and shared shuttles, offer significant mobility benefits, especially for users who lack use of a personal vehicle. However, there are barriers towards emulating the key parts of human-driven shared ride services, such as efficient rendezvous and good curb location selection. Human drivers solve these problems with limited impact on operational cost and safety, but autonomous vehicles struggle with this poorly defined, yet critical step. We seek to address these barriers by characterizing effective and user-focused rendezvous strategies, thereby helping decisionmakers and service providers improve service, enhance safety, and lower operational cost.
Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology holds immense promise for boosting transport efficiency and safety, yet adoption remains stalled by steep infrastructure costs, fragmented standards, and misaligned OEM incentives. To overcome these barriers, the Mobility Center of Excellence teamed up with the UCLA Anderson School of Business AMR (Applied Management Research) program—engaging MBA students as part of their capstone projects—to explore holistic, sustainable business models that align industry profitability with broad societal benefits. The resulting Business Models for V2X project culminates in a published report and video presentation, offering clear, actionable roadmap alternatives for driving widespread V2X deployment.
As autonomous vehicles (AVs) and shared mobility gain traction, there’s an urgent need to quantify their land use impacts and reassess zoning requirements. The demand for traditional auto-serving facilities like gas stations, repair shops, and car dealerships is expected to wane, while the need for new types of spaces, such as fleet servicing centers and storage, will rise. This shift also redefines the layout and size of freight logistics areas to accommodate the integration of AV technology. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for urban planners and policymakers as they adapt zoning regulations to meet the evolving needs of urban landscapes. This research aims to provide concrete data on land use changes and identify zoning adjustments that support the transition towards a future where AVs and shared mobility solutions are prevalent, helping cities prepare for a sustainable and efficient transformation in urban land utilization.
The successful deployment of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and new mobility solutions in cities like Los Angeles and Austin faces challenges due to the interplay of rapid technological change, diverse stakeholder interests, and unique local contexts. Without coordinated planning and collaboration, these efforts risk: - Fragmented deployments leading to inefficient operations, incompatible technologies, and missed opportunities to maximize benefits. - Safety and regulatory gaps where first responders, policymakers, and the public lack clear standards, certification processes, and communication protocols. - Infrastructure misalignments as AVs struggle with temporary traffic controls, construction zones, and emergency scenarios. - Limited data sharing and digital infrastructure that hinder collaboration, transparency, and interoperability across city and industry systems. - Broader urban impacts such as unforeseen consequences for land use, congestion, accessibility, public transit investment, and community acceptance. This project addresses these issues by bringing together government agencies, industry leaders, and researchers to establish shared standards, advance digital infrastructure, and develop collaborative strategies for safe, inclusive, and context-sensitive AV deployment.
A key problem in urban mobility is determining the most effective and sustainable approach to shared mobility. This research addresses the challenge of evaluating the comparative effectiveness of community-based, market-based, and public-private partnership (P3) models in achieving urban mobility goals.
A summary of proceedings, lessons learned, conclusions, and next steps from a gathering of approximately 50 transportation professionals gathered in Washington, DC on October 3rd, 2024 to discuss local perspectives on new mobility and automated vehicles.
Zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption is a key climate mitigation tool, but its environmental justice implications remain unclear. Here, we quantify ZEV adoption at the census tract level in California from 2015 to 2020 and project it to 2035 when all new passenger vehicles sold are expected to be ZEVs. We then apply an integrated traffic model together with a dispersion model to simulate air quality changes near roads in the Greater Los Angeles. We found that per capita ZEV ownership in non-disadvantaged communities (non-DACs) as defined by the state of California is 3.8 times of that in DACs. Racial and ethnic minorities owned fewer ZEVs regardless of DAC designation. While DAC residents receive 40% more pollutant reduction than non-DACs due to intercommunity ZEV trips in 2020, they remain disproportionately exposed to higher levels of traffic-related air pollution. With more ZEVs in 2035, the exposure disparity narrows. However, to further reduce disparities, the focus must include trucks, emphasizing the need for targeted ZEV policies that address persistent pollution burdens among DAC and racial and ethnic minority residents.
