Usage and User Characteristics—Insights from MOIA, Europe’s Largest Ridepooling Service

Abstract

New, i.e., shared and digitized, mobility services have been entering urban mobility markets around the globe. Among these new offerings is ridepooling, a mobility solution that bundles requests from passengers with similar routes in real-time and matches them with a vehicle. Ridepooling is quite novel in Germany and knowledge about users, changes in travel behavior, and impacts on the urban traffic system is scarce. To address this gap, we conducted an online survey among users and non-users of MOIA, a German ridepooling provider. Over 12,000 respondents completed the survey. The article presents results on ridepooling users’ characteristics and usage patterns. We found that MOIA users cover all age groups and are multimodal travelers—which leads us to assume that ridepooling enriches mobility portfolios and also serves as an alternative to the private car. MOIA is mostly used occasionally and, in particular, during the evening or the night. A specific focus of the article lies on users with mobility impairments as well as how and by whom ridepooling is used on work-related trips. Both topics are particularly relevant in light of changing travel patterns and transforming urban transport systems towards more sustainability.

Examining Customers’ Critical Acceptance Factors toward Ridepooling Services

“…This is surprising, as other studies (e.g., Chen et al [66]) have found that this construct is relevant in the transportation context. As can be seen from the descriptive statistics (Appendix A.1), the respondents tend to use ridepooling for leisure activities, consistent with the study of Kostorz et al (32), rather than for regular transportation (e.g., commuting). This led to the assumption that ridepooling is a service for short and occasional rides, whereas ridesharing is used for longer trips between cities.…”

“…The study of Kostorz et al (32) reveals a more diverse view on ridepooling users, finding that the 20 to 39 age group represented 49% of the user population for ridepooling services. Compared with this, non-users of ridepooling seem to be in the age groups of 50 and older (32). Based on the sample in the present study, no claims can be made for recommendations on these older target groups, since they are underrepresented in this study.…”

“…Ridepooling providers must focus on these aspects, that is, diverse purposes of usage, to achieve continuous acceptance and a sustainable business. This can help ridepooling providers to distribute customers across the whole day and would lead a better degree of capacity utilization, also suggested by Kostorz et al (32).…”

Incorporating Multi-Modal Travel Planning into an Agent-Based Model: A Case Study at the Train Station Kellinghusenstraße in Hamburg

“…We have implemented regular bicycles; but station-based as well as free-floating e-bikes, scooters, Segways, mopeds, and other similar modalities are gaining traction in urban environments. Ride-sharing concepts (e.g., MOIA in Hamburg) are becoming increasingly established alternatives to public transport [4]. Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) are entering the mainstream, promising to reshape transport and become a cornerstone of smart mobility [7,43].…”

“…Firstly, the typical set of stops (home → work/school → home) has become increasingly broken up into longer chains with multiple subroutes [3]. Secondly, new mobility solutions such as shared or on-demand vehicles have grown in popularity (e.g., [4]). These developments lead to the concept of Mobility-as-a-Service [5,6].…”