Understanding the Competitive Advantages of Car Sharing from the Travel-Cost Perspective

Abstract

<jats:p>The emergence and development of car sharing can not only satisfy people’s diverse travel demands, but also can bring a new solution to facilitate urban low-carbon and green development. With the increasing acceptance of car sharing, the market competition between car sharing and traditional taxis is becoming increasingly fierce. Therefore, we explore the advantages of car sharing to travelers compared with taxis. In this paper, we first use the GPS (Global Positioning System) trajectory data of car sharing orders to construct a comparative advantage model based on travel-cost. Then, we take Beijing as the research area to explore the travel-cost advantages of car sharing in terms of the time and space dimensions compared with taxis, through calculating the travel-cost of car sharing and using simulation to calculate that of taxis. The results of the comparison between car sharing and taxis from the perspective of travel-cost are as follows: (1) Compared with short trips, the travel-cost advantage of car sharing is relatively higher in medium and long trips; for travelers, the taxi has a higher travel-cost advantage when the travel time is either very long or very short. (2) On weekdays, it is more cost-effective to travel by shared cars for travelers before the rush hours in the evening, and the travel-cost advantage of using taxis is greater after the evening peak. (3) Compared with weekdays, it is more cost-effective to travel by shared cars on weekends wherever travelers are living in the main urban areas or in the remote suburbs. It is suggested that relevant departments should understand the travelers’ preference and analyze the influence mechanism of other various factors on the market demand for car sharing as per the focus on the market on the travel-cost advantages of car sharing, so as to promote the healthy and sustainable development of urban shared transportation.</jats:p>

Does Car Sharing Contribute to Urban Sustainability from User-Motivation Perspectives?

“…As the literature review underlines, car sharing should first of all be considered as a potential opportunity for a more sustainable means of mobility and an opportunity to reduce CO 2 emissions, since a reduction in the number of car units allows more efficient utilization [25,[47][48][49]. Dong et al [50] believe that the development of car sharing not only satisfies people's diverse travel demands but also brings forward a new solution to facilitate urban sustainability. Researchers explored the advantages of car sharing relative to travellers compared with taxis and concluded that increasing the acceptance of car-sharing will increase the competition between car sharing and traditional taxis [50].…”

“…Dong et al [50] believe that the development of car sharing not only satisfies people's diverse travel demands but also brings forward a new solution to facilitate urban sustainability. Researchers explored the advantages of car sharing relative to travellers compared with taxis and concluded that increasing the acceptance of car-sharing will increase the competition between car sharing and traditional taxis [50].…”

A Contrastive Study on Travel Costs of Car-Sharing and Taxis Based on GPS Trajectory Data

“…Next, we build the taxi travel cost calculation model [ 50 ], and use the car-sharing trajectory data to calculate the STT in the taxi travel scenario.…”

Research on the Coupling Coordination Relationships between Urban Function Mixing Degree and Urbanization Development Level Based on Information Entropy

“…In recent years, with the development of computer technology and the widespread application of mobile smart terminals, people have begun to pay attention to relevant research on the urban function mixing degree and urbanization development level. On the one hand, based on multi-source data such as mobile phone signaling [ 5 ], POI distribution, taxis’ GPS trajectories [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ] and so on, scholars can study the urban function mixing degree, that is, the degree of perfection in the construction of urban multifunctional areas. This can provide theoretical support and a basis for quantitative analysis of the urban land utilization rate, better analysis of and solutions to urban complex problems, and the improvement of urban comprehensive capabilities.…”