In recent years, shared mobility systems have had a growing presence in cities all over the world. This is understandable given its numerous advantages such as the reduced need for personal vehicle ownership, reduced traffic congestion and emissions, increased parking efficiency, and cost savings for users. Overall, shared mobility systems offer the potential to revolutionize transportation, providing individuals with more options and helping to create more sustainable, livable cities. For shared mobility systems to fully deliver their benefits, vehicle availability must be maintained at the right place and time. If the vehicle distribution is not optimal, it may lead to overcrowding and shortages which in turn will discourage usage and lead to reduced revenues for the operator. Therefore, ensuring proper balancing of supply and demand is crucial for the success of the shared mobility service. One way to balance supply and demand is through physically rebalancing vehicles within the service area. In this study, a simulation-based optimization model is created and used to determine the optimal rebalancing operations while quantifying system improvement. A case study is conducted using real data from the Dutch moped sharing provider Felyx to examine the impact of performing rebalancing operations in Eindhoven throughout May ’22. The results demonstrate a potential increase in profit of up to 2.06%. By performing the recommended rebalancing actions several times a week in each city where the operator is active, a significant amount of extra profit can be made. This additional profit will even rise as the usage of shared mobility rises in general.

Shared mobility systems allow individuals to rent vehicles on an as-needed basis. The benefit of this is that these individuals does not have to buy the vehicle themselves and only pay for its use. These shared mobility systems are becoming increasingly popular due to the fact that sharing vehicles means fewer are required and fewer resources must be devoted making them. Following that, most of these shared vehicles are electrically powered, which also contributes to a more sustainable future. A crucial factor for the success of these shared mobility systems is its ability to properly match the demand and supply of the vehicles. This is achieved by rebalancing operations, in which vehicles are repositioned from areas with a surplus of vehicles to areas with a deficit of vehicles, based on the expected demand and supply. Determining effective rebalancing operations is a complex challenge that requires the consideration of many different elements. In this review, various methodologies from the literature to rebalance the fleet of vehicles within shared mobility systems are examined. We present an overview of optimization and simulation techniques used in the literature to better match demand and supply.