Rideshare mode potential in non-metropolitan areas of the northeastern United States

Abstract

Abstract:This study focuses on work commuters who currently rideshare, are potential rideshare commuters, or indicated a willingness to use rideshare services. Discrete choice models were developed with survey data of residents in the northeastern United States. Builtenvironment variables based on home and workplace locations were examined. While the socio-demographic characteristics of rideshare commuters and potential rideshare commuters were similar, characteristics of those indicating a willingness to use rideshare services were dissimilar, specifically women and younger individuals were uninterested in these programs. Those who live in denser areas were more likely to rideshare now, but less likely to indicate rideshare as their alternative to driving alone. Having a rural workplace corresponded to more ridesharing and being willing to use rideshare services, but less likely to indicate rideshare in place of driving alone. Many attitudinal variables were examined in the models; but interestingly most were not useful in explaining potential ridesharers or potential rideshare program participants. This analysis indicates that potential rideshare commuters may be demographically similar to existing rideshare commuters but live and work in more rural areas. Those who would participate in rideshare programs are a different set and should be further defined and targeted separately.

Potential uptake of adaptive transport services: An exploration of service attributes and attitudes

“…carsharing and ride-sharing). This result is consistent with the work of Lee et al (2015), who found that attitudes related to privacy, proximity and driving preferences are relevant for the choice of sharing or not sharing a ride. Furthermore, the model substantially improved after we added the attitudinal factors (see the goodness of fit measures at the bottom of Table 6).…”

“…In addition, land use variables also influence the uptake of ATS. For example, Lee et al (2015) examined the willingness of ridesharing commuters to use ridesharing services, based on socio-economic Table 1. Table 1 contains the aspects and criteria considered for the categorisation.…”

Why Do They Ride with Others? Meta-Analysis of Factors Influencing Travelers to Carpool

“…It is, however, worth noting that it was strongly influenced by the large-sample studies, as the other papers all reported a positive, but limited, relationship between being female and carpooling. That men and women react differently to carpooling was also noted in the study by Lee et al [38], which concluded that female travelers would be less likely to carpool if they were matched with strangers. However, gender effects do seem to be rather weak, regardless of including the large-sample studies or not.…”

“…Future research should focus on the effectiveness of different carpool platforms and analyze aspects of them in more detail (e.g., user friendliness and number of carpoolers). The first steps in this direction were made (e.g., References [28,38]; however, the reported results are not comparable to effect sizes. Another interesting aspect is the use of social media and its ability to function as a platform to match carpoolers, which is also interesting in that "socializing" has an effect on the intention to carpool.…”

“…When using judgmental factors (e.g., more environmentally friendly, safer, more comfort) to promote carpooling, it is crucial to attend to demographic characteristics. Thus, for example, the trust factor is more relevant for females than males [38]. Policy-makers and companies need to be aware that promotional efforts addressing the wrong target group can lead to a boomerang effect, which means that people may react in an opposite direction than anticipated, developing a more positive attitude toward single-occupancy car usage, as evident in other transportation studies [52].…”