Characteristics of Pooled Trips Offered by Ridesourcing Services in Chicago

In an effort to increase efficiency and combat concerns of mode replacement and rising vehicle miles travelled (VMT) that results from increased use of ridesourcing, companies offer pooled rides where customers can choose to share a ride with another customer. Many questions exist about why users select these types of rides and how rides become matched. Using a public dataset provided by the City of Chicago, the authors examine the factors relating to consumer preferences and outcomes once the willingness to pool a ride has been indicated by the user. This paper uses a cluster analysis to place tracts into groups that share similar demographic, transportation availability, and built environment characteristics, and the authors analyze the ridesourcing data in relation to these groups. The authors find that income and proximity to the downtown negatively correlate with the willingness of the rider to share their ride, and that there is higher willingness to pool during peak commuting hours, at which time there is also more success in pooling rides. Additionally, the authors examine the impact that a fare increase has had on willingness to pool, and find that pooled rides are very price sensitive. The authors find that reliance on pooling is greater in low-income neighborhoods, which showed high willingness to pool and a lower change in demand when fare increased compared to other Chicago neighborhoods. Finally, the effect of trip miles and geographic location relative to the downtown are considered in relation to pooling success, with longer rides being more successful in the pooling process.

• Record URL:
  https://annualmeeting.mytrb.org/OnlineProgram/Details/15658
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP020 Standing Committee on Innovative Public Transportation Services and Technologies.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Romeo, Lauren
  • Atkinson-Palombo, Carol
  • Garrick, Norman
  • Chacón-Hurtado, Davis
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 100th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2021-1-5 to 2021-1-29
• Date: 2021

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 19p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cluster analysis; Commuting; Consumer preferences; Mobility applications; Ridership; Ridesharing; Ridesourcing; Travel behavior
• Geographic Terms: Chicago (Illinois)
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01763548
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: TRBAM-21-03775
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 4 2021 10:54AM