The sustainability of shared mobility: Can a platform for shared rides reduce motorized traffic in cities?

Studies in several cities indicate that ridesourcing (ride-hailing) may increase traffic and congestion, given the substitution of more sustainable modes and the addition of empty kilometers. On the other hand, there is little evidence if smartphone apps that target shared rides have any influence on reducing traffic levels. The authors study the effects of a shared-mobility service offered by a start-up in Mexico City, Jetty, which is used by travelers to book a shared ride in a car, van or bus. A large-scale user survey was conducted to study trip characteristics, reasons for using the platform and the general travel choices of Jetty users. The authors calculate travel distance per trip leg, for the current choices and for the modes that riders would have chosen if the platform was not available. The authors find that the effect of the platform on vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) depends on the rate of empty kilometers introduced by the fleet of vehicles, the substitution of public versus private transport modes, the occupancy rate of Jetty vehicles and assumptions on the occupancy rate of substituted modes. Following a sensitivity analysis approach for variables with unavailable data, the authors estimate that shared rides in cars increase VKT (in the range of 7 to 10 km/passenger), shared vans are able to decrease VKT (around −0.2 to −1.1 km/passenger), whereas buses are estimated to increase VKT (0.4 to 1.1 km/passenger), in the authors' preferred scenarios. These results stem from the tradeoff between the effects of the occupancy rates per vehicle (larger vehicles are shared by more people) and the attractiveness of the service for car users (shared vans attract more car drivers than buses booked through Jetty). The authors' findings point to the relevance of shared rides in bigger vehicles such as vans as competitors to low occupancy car services for the future of mobility in cities, and to the improvement of public transportation services through the inclusion of quality attributes as provided by new shared-mobility services.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2020.102707
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968090X20306227
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0968090X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Tirachini, Alejandro
  • Chaniotakis, Emmanouil
  • Abouelela, Mohamed
  • Antoniou, Constantinos
• Publication Date: 2020-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 102707
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies
  • Volume: 117
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0968-090X
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0968090X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cities; Mobile applications; Motor vehicles; Private transportation; Public transit; Ridesourcing; Sensitivity analysis; Surveys; Sustainable transportation; Traffic congestion; Traffic volume; Vans; Vehicle miles of travel
• Geographic Terms: Mexico City (Mexico)
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01745984
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 23 2020 9:22AM