Allocation of One-way and Two-way Carsharing Services between Busy Regions

Electric shared car systems have been introduced to a number of cities as a means of reducing traffic congestion and air pollution. There are two types of service: one-way and two-way service. In this paper, the objective is to optimize user demands and carsharing company profits, we investigate the ratio of one-way and two-way cars to satisfy the customers demands between two high-demand areas. First we propose a linear programming model. The revenue consists of customer charges and government subsidies. The cost consists of purchase and operating cost Second, we apply the model to a carsharing company called Xiaoming Travel in Hefei City, China. We consider round trips between two high demand areas, Xinqiao Airport and Mingzhu Square. We find maximal profit can be obtained when a proper ratio of one-way and two-way cars is provided. We also find the relocation rate and relocation coefficient influences the profit. Finally, we provide useful operational suggestions to decision makers of carsharing companies based on our results.