Diversion en-route: a responsive mechanism considering real-world road networks with unforeseen traffic events in real-time ride-sharing dispatching

Ride-sharing is an emerging mode that can effectively alleviate urban transport pressure. However, real-world transport systems may frequently face various traffic conditions, such as congestion. This paper proposes a responsive ride-sharing dispatching model, in which vehicles are allowed to divert from their current routes to respond to sudden and unforeseen events. The assumptions and formulation are established with consideration of real-world road networks. A variable neighbourhood search with intelligent search reduction (VNS-ISR) is developed to solve the problem efficiently, particularly under time-critical dispatching tasks. The proposed model and algorithm are validated using real-world trip data from New York, US. Results show that the model improves solutions by 7.88%–23.47% under traffic events. Moreover, a Manhattan case simulation highlights the expected environmental benefit equivalent to a 93,462 L reduction in gasoline consumption in annual operations.