Online and App-Based Carpooling in France: Analyzing Users and Practices--A Case Study of BlaBlaCar

This paper examines the characteristics and practices of ridesharing users in France. Ridesharing is defined as the grouping, into a private vehicle, of travelers who have a common origin and/or destination and share trip costs. Since it first appeared in France in 1958, it has evolved rapidly and attracted an increasing number of users. This growth has been largely facilitated by advanced technology. At present, there are an estimated three million carpooling users in France, but their profile and motivations are not well understood. In May 2013, the authors conducted a member survey of BlaBlaCar (n=618), the largest online and app-based carpooling service in France to analyze the socio-demographic characteristics and usage patterns of the respondents. The respondents tend to be younger and more educated than the national population in France, although their level of income is roughly similar to that of the general population. The survey results identify correlations between sociodemographic characteristics and usage elements, such as trip purpose and role as a driver or rider. Notably, users with a lower income level are more inclined to be passengers, while higher income users employ carpooling mainly as drivers. This finding indicates some equity balancing effects, which may be unique to this shared mobility mode. In addition, an ordinal regression model was developed to determine which respondent characteristics are most highly correlated with frequency of BlaBlaCar use. The results suggest that students and individuals that use the service for work trips employ it more frequently.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABE50 Standing Committee on Transportation Demand Management.
  • Corporate Authors:

    Transportation Research Board

    500 Fifth Street, NW
    Washington, DC  United States  20001
  • Authors:
    • Mundler, Marie
    • Stocker, Adam
    • Shaheen, Susan
  • Conference:
  • Date: 2016

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 15p
  • Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

  • TRT Terms: Carpools; Ridesharing; Travel behavior
  • Geographic Terms: France
  • Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01589053
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: 16-1910
  • Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
  • Created Date: Feb 1 2016 9:26AM