Sustainability and Shared Mobility Models

Abstract

Shared mobility or mobility in the sharing economy is characterised by the sharing of a vehicle instead of ownership, and the use of technology to connect users and providers. Based on a literature review, the following four emerging models are identified: (1) peer to peer provision with a company as a broker, providing a platform where individuals can rent their cars when not in use; (2) short term rental of vehicles managed and owned by a provider; (3) companies that own no cars themselves but sign up ordinary car owners as drivers; and (4) on demand private cars, vans, or buses, and other vehicles, such as big taxis, shared by passengers going in the same direction. The first three models can yield profits to private parties, but they do not seem to have potential to reduce congestion and CO2 emissions substantially. The fourth model, which entails individuals not only sharing a vehicle, but actually travelling together at the same time, is promising in terms of congestion and CO2 emissions reductions. It is also the least attractive to individuals, given the disbenefits in terms of waiting time, travel time, comfort, and convenience, in comparison with the private car. Potential incentives to encourage shared mobility are also discussed, and research needs are outlined.

Human Behavior and New Mobility Trends in the United States, Europe, and China

“…Shared mobility is becoming more and more popular in the United States, especially among young urbandwellers, but it still lags far behind shared mobility in Europe and China due to how cheap it is to drive in the U.S. Ride-hailing dominates U.S. shared mobility (Santos, 2018), but like other forms of shared mobility, it has not spread much beyond urban centers. Typical users of shared mobility in the U.S. tend to be younger, urban, male, highly-educated, and middle-upper income.…”

“…According to one study, each carsharing vehicle results in on average 9 to 13 vehicles taken off the road, which includes sold and postponed car purchases. Those who have access to carsharing are more likely to reduce their car ownership-go from two to one cars, though not necessarily eliminate it (Cohen & Shaheen, 2018) (Santos, 2018). Carsharing can help increase the use of public transportation in the U.S. in places that need more first and last mile connectivity.…”

“…Not all Americans are enthusiastic about using ride-hailing. A majority of respondents to a survey (67%) preferred "driving their own cars over using ride-hailing apps" and 63% would not give up their vehicles for ride-hailing even if it were free (Santos, 2018). The desire for autonomy and the American cultural draw of the car are still strong, but this could be slowly changing.…”

Technology: A Necessary but Not Sufficient Condition for Future Personal Mobility

“…Also, some administrations are considering to provide incentives to users, at least at the early stages of these systems. For example, shared vehicles could have granted access to exclusive areas and restricted lanes, or economic subsidies could be provided to compensate for the disutility of waiting, accessing the system, or sharing the vehicle with other passengers [86]. Nevertheless, the role of governments and administrations in the regulation of potentially environmentally friendly practices, such as vehicle sharing or MaaS, is generally affected by an intricate chain of interests, as there are many stakeholders affected.…”

A Stochastic Simulation Model for the Optimization of the Taxi Management System

“…The next recent trend is shared mobility, which includes taxi systems, among others. This issue was widely discussed, and the different shared mobility modes were compared by Santos [42]. Some authors paid attention to possibilities which come from the widespread availability of smartphones and being online.…”