Why Did the Inflection Point of Bus Ridership Occur in China in 2014? Origins from the Effect of the Ride-Hailing Service
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2025
Subject Area
place - asia, place - urban, mode - bus, ridership - behaviour
Keywords
public transportation, planning, ridership, ridership analysis
Abstract
Although rapid construction of public transit infrastructure has continued in China in recent years, there has been a significant decline in bus ridership since 2014. To investigate this trend, we conducted a statistical analysis for 24 cities in China, using fixed-effects panel regression to examine the relationships between bus ridership and significant factors from 2000 to 2019. Our analysis revealed that the emergence of ride-hailing services was probably the most significant contributor to the decline in bus ridership, reducing it by 33% from 2014 to 2019. This finding suggests that ride-hailing services have caused an inflection point in bus ridership. Furthermore, we found that gross domestic product (GDP) negatively moderates the effect of ride-hailing services on bus ridership, with cities of lower economic status experiencing a more significant decline in ridership, owing to the development of ride-hailing services. Our research provides valuable insights for policymakers and relevant departments when addressing transit ridership loss and transit system development issues.
Rights
Permission to publish the abstract has been given by SAGE, copyright remains with them.
Recommended Citation
Yang, Y., Zhang, S., Li, J., & Chen, G. (2025). Why Did the Inflection Point of Bus Ridership Occur in China in 2014? Origins from the Effect of the Ride-Hailing Service. Transportation Research Record, 2679(5), 614-625.
