Exploring the influences of ride-hailing services on VMT and transit usage – Evidence from California

Authors

Guang Tian
Reid Ewing
Han Li

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2023

Subject Area

place - north america, ridership - behaviour, ridership - mode choice, ridership - modelling, policy - equity, policy - sustainable, planning - methods

Keywords

vehicle miles traveled (VMT), transit ridership, ride-hailing

Abstract

With years in the market, ride-hailing services have generated broad impacts on almost every aspect of transportation, from the system level – such as congestion, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), transit ridership, etc. – to the household/individual level – such as vehicle ownership, mode choice, destination choice, etc. This study aims to explore the influences of ride-hailing services on VMT and transit usage at the household level by controlling for both socioeconomic and built environmental characteristics by using pre-COVID-19 data from California. While spatial distributions, descriptive statistics, and statistical tests reveal some connections between ride-hailing usage, household VMT generation, and transit usage, a few of these relationships lose statistical significance in multilevel two-stage regressions once the built environment where people reside is controlled for. The two remaining significant relationships include: 1) occasional ride-hailing usage (1–3 times per month) correlates with increased household VMT generation, and 2) frequent ride-hailing usage (4 or more times per month) is linked to a higher likelihood of utilizing any transit services. Together with previous literature, this study suggests that the associations between ride-hailing services and household VMT generation and transit usage may vary at the household level and depend on the frequency of usage, local contexts, household characteristics, etc., such as the built environment of where people live, employment status, household income, etc. Policymakers and planners should consider all factors to create efficient, sustainable and equitable transportation systems for all.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Journal of Transport Geography home Page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09666923

Recommended Citation

Tian, G., Ewing, R., & Li, H. (2023). Exploring the influences of ride-hailing services on VMT and transit usage–Evidence from California. Journal of Transport Geography, 110, 103644.