Assessing the Impact of App-Based Ride Share Systems in an Urban Context: Findings from Austin

Komanduri, Anurag; Wafa, Zeina; Proussaloglou, Kimon; Jacobs, Simon

doi:10.1177/0361198118796025

Cited by 62 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…While still up for debate, some argue that RH may actually serve to reduce automobile usage, as it discourages vehicle ownership and eliminates much of the wasteful driving associated with the search for parking (Anderson, 2014). Moreover, by stressing its gap-filling potential, others believe that RH complements more than it substitutes transit use, and may increase accessibility for carless individuals in areas with poor transit supply (Feigon and Murphy, 2016;Komanduri et al 2018).…”

Section: Equity In Transportationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Others, however, have drawn much more optimistic conclusions with regards to the modal impacts of RH, suggesting that it will act as a complement, rather than a substitute to transit. Proponents of this view emphasize the potential of RH to serve as the first/last mile of transit trips, and its ability to provide access to carless individuals in areas with low transit supply (Feigon and Murphy, 2016;Komanduri et al, 2018).…”

Section: Modal Equitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ride-hailing platforms are shaping the future of mobility, but for whom?

Young¹,

Farber²

2019

Preprint

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Claiming that ride-hailing companies have disrupted the transportation sector is an understatement. The ability and vision of companies, such as Uber and Lyft, to harness smartphones’ built-in GPS technologies, provide real-time information about wait times, and facilitate cashless transactions has enabled them to effectively compete with the taxi industry, and potentially capture a sizeable share of the ridership of other modes as well. RH services are now increasingly being recognized as an accepted transportation service within cities, and have rapidly positioned themselves among the most valuable companies within the transportation sector. Albeit a relatively new field of research, studies on this novel mode of travel have mostly focused on its impacts upon the transportation sector, and on the regulatory and policy frameworks that should be implemented to either encourage or deter its usage. To date, not much work has been done to determine who actually benefits from RH and to understand the equity concerns that it may engender. In this chapter, we explore these largely unaddressed concerns by situating ride-hailing within the well-established transport equity literature that has long focussed on disparities in access and mobility between different social, economic, and demographic groups. This allows us to elaborate on the potentially restrictive nature of RH for many segments of the population. Once unveiled, these equity concerns will shape our discussion and inform our recommendations for an agenda to research equity concerns vis-a-vis ride-hailing.

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Section: Equity In Transportationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modal Equitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Ride-hailing platforms are shaping the future of mobility, but for whom?

Young¹,

Farber²

2019

Preprint

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“…By comparing RH travel-times to their fastest transit alternatives, they further showed that 66% of their 283 surveyed RH trips would have been twice as long if conducted by public transit, and this led them to believe that RH may be filling a gap in areas where public transit and traditional taxi services are sparse. Differences in traveltime are further used to establish the gap-filling potential of RH in a study by Komanduri et al (2018), which focuses on the not-for-profit RH company called RideAustin in Texas. They found that a majority of transit trips were slower by 40% or more when compared to equivalent RideAustin trips, and establish this without accounting for transit reliability (i.e.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Others, however, have refuted this concern by emphasizing the ability of RH to act as a supplement to transit; noting that RH can provide first/last mile services and deliver services that are not directly competing with existing transit lines (Rayle et al, 2016;Feigon and Murphy, 2016;Komanduri et al, 2018;Young, 2019). These benefits have gained considerable traction among transit agencies seeking to reduce operational costs as well as among policymakers charged with the difficult task of effectively regulating RH services.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring when Uber behaves as a substitute or complement to transit: An examination of travel-time differences in Toronto

Young¹,

Allen²,

Farber³

2019

Preprint

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Policymakers in cities worldwide are trying to determine how ride-hailing services affect the ridership of traditional forms of public transportation. The level of convenience and comfort that these services provide is bound to take riders away from transit, but by operating in areas, or at times, when transit is less frequent, they may also be filling a gap left vacant by transit operations. These contradictory effects reveal why we should not merely categorize ride-hailing services as a substitute or complement to transit, and demonstrate the need to examine ride-hailing trips individually. Using data from the 2016 Transportation Tomorrow Survey in Toronto, we investigate the difference in travel-time between observed ride-hailing trips and their fastest transit alternative. Ordinary least square and ordered logistic regressions are used to uncover the characteristics that influence travel-time differences. We find that ride-hailing trips contained within the City of Toronto, pursued during peak hours, or for shopping purposes, are more likely to have transit alternatives of similar duration. We also find discrepancies in travel-time to be often caused by lengthy walk- and wait-times for transit or because of transfers. Our results further indicate that 30.61% of ride-hailing trips in our sample have transit alternatives of similar duration. These are particularly damaging for transit agencies as they compete directly with services that fall within reasonable transit expectations. We also find that 26.87% of ride-hailing trips would take at least 30 minutes longer by transit. In light of these findings, we discuss recommendations for ride-hailing taxation structures.

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“…For example, public transport smart cards simplify travelling for users, while behind-the-scenes, the cards provide valuable data for route planning. Ride-sharing applications (apps) also have transformed urban movement patterns [17]. Yet, there is great scope to extend the use of these technologies; specifically, there is very little evidence showing that cities are using such practices to improve the efficient use of Shadeways, which can eventually lead to increased adaptation to excess heat in urban areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Allowing Users to Benefit from Tree Shading: Using a Smartphone App to Allow Adaptive Route Planning during Extreme Heat

Deilami

Rudner

Butt

et al. 2020

Forests

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This paper presents the outcomes from a joint research project that aims to develop a smartphone application/online platform to model the most thermally comfortable active transport route to a planned destination using heat information and tree shading (Shadeway). Here, we provide a summary of our systematic review of academic literature and applications from the Google Play and Apple App Store, to identify current knowledge about personal adaptation strategies when navigating travel in cities during high temperatures. The review identifies that there is a lack of attention regarding the use of smartphone applications to address urban thermal comfort for active transport by government and private industry. We then present the initial results of original research from three community focus groups and an online survey that elicited participants’ opinions about Shadeways in the City of Greater Bendigo (CoGB), Australia. The results clearly show the need for better management of Shadeways in CoGB. For example, 52.3% of the routes traveled by participants suffer from either no or poor levels of shading, and 53 of the shaded areas were located along routes that also experience heavy traffic, which can have an adverse effect on perceptions and actual safety. It is expected that this study will contribute to improve understanding of the methods used to identify adaptation strategies to increasingly extreme temperatures.

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Assessing the Impact of App-Based Ride Share Systems in an Urban Context: Findings from Austin

Cited by 62 publications

References 2 publications

Ride-hailing platforms are shaping the future of mobility, but for whom?

Ride-hailing platforms are shaping the future of mobility, but for whom?

Measuring when Uber behaves as a substitute or complement to transit: An examination of travel-time differences in Toronto

Allowing Users to Benefit from Tree Shading: Using a Smartphone App to Allow Adaptive Route Planning during Extreme Heat

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