Abstract:
In recent decades, society has witnessed significant advancements in emerging mobility systems. These systems refer to transportation solutions that incorporate digital technologies, such as, automation and connectivity, to support sustainability goals, creating safer, more efficient, and user-centered mobility. Examples include connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), shared mobility services (e.g., carpooling), electrified mobility solutions, and mobility-as-a-service platforms such as Whim, Moovit, and Uber. These innovations have the potential to greatly impact different aspects of mobility such as safety, pollution, comfort, travel time, and fairness. In this article, we explore the current landscape of CAVs. We discuss their role in daily life and their future potential, while also examining the challenges they may introduce. We further review practical challenges in CAVs research, with a focus on simulation and real-world testing of CAV algorithms. Then, existing solutions that aim to overcome these limitations are presented. Finally, we provide an accessible introduction to modeling CAVs using basic kinematic principles and offer an open source tutorial to motivate interested students to begin exploring the field.