A bilevel optimization framework for carsharing incentives to enhance mobility accessibility Event

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Shared mobility services, such as one-way carsharing, can complement public transport networks by improving accessibility and providing flexible mobility options in areas with limited transit coverage. To enable effective integration, municipalities can design incentive schemes that influence the strategic decisions of private operators. In this work, we formulate this interaction as a bilevel optimization problem, where the municipality acts as the leader and the carsharing operator as the follower. The upper-level problem determines incentives to maximize mobility accessibility under a limited budget, while the lower-level problem optimizes the operator’s decisions regarding station locations, capacities, fleet size, and relocation operations to maximize profit. Incentives include lump-sum payments, parking space subsidies, and per-trip subsidies. We are currently conducting experiments in the municipality of Porto to develop a realistic accessibility-based objective function, capturing the role of carsharing as a complement to the existing mobility network.