“Not just a taxi”? For-profit ridesharing,driver strategies,and VMT

The spread of GPS-based location services using smartphone applications has led to the rapid growth of new startups offering smartphone-enabled dispatch service for taxicabs, limousines, and ridesharing vehicles. This change in communicative technology has been accompanied by the creation of new categories of car service, particularly as drivers of limousines and private vehicles use the apps to provide on-demand service of a kind previously reserved for taxicabs. One of the most controversial new models of car service is for-profit ridesharing, which combines the for-profit model of taxi service with the overall traffic reduction goals of ridesharing. A preliminary attempt is here made at understanding how for-profit ridesharing compares to traditional taxicab and ridesharing models. Ethnographic interviews are drawn on to illustrate the range of motivations and strategies used by for-profit ridesharing drivers in San Francisco, California as they make use of the service. A range of driver strategies is identified, ranging from incidental, to part-time, to full-time driving. This makes possible a provisional account of the potential ecological impacts of the spread of this model of car service, based on the concept of taxicab efficiency, conceived as the ratio of shared versus unshared miles driven.     

Lessons learned from a personalized travel planning (PTP) research program to reduce car dependence

Voluntary travel behavior change programs have been implemented worldwide since the late 1990s at a personal and community level. Most of the now completed programs were commissioned by local authorities to commercial firms, in an attempt to reduce private car use. In this context, the evaluation and review of the reliability of these policy measures have been at the core of most of the debates and studies in this field. In this paper, we describe the lessons learned from a research program funded by the Sardinian Government (Italy), aimed at testing a soft transport policy measure for reducing car dependence. In particular, the work reviews in detail the methodological approach and participants’ feedback on a personalized travel plan (PTP). After implementation of the soft measure, the PTP participants were divided into two groups depending on whether they had reduced car use or not, and separate analyses were conducted to highlight the factors underlying different behavior change decisions. General conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the PTP are beyond the scope of the present study.     

The car pooling problem: Heuristic algorithms based on savings functions

The present research deals with car pooling as a means of making better use of existing infrastructure and as a means of reducing traffic congestion with all its associated induced effects. Car pooling schemes involve several drivers getting together to share a private vehicle simultaneously, in order to reach their destinations points according to a semi‐common route rather than each driver using their own vehicle. The Car Pooling Problem belongs to the non‐polynomial computational complexity family of operations problems. In the current literature there are only a few studies on this optimization problem: the research group has designed several different new automatic and heuristic data processing routines to support efficient matching in car pool schemes. These are based on savings functions and belong to two distinct macro classes of algorithms to give two different modelings of this problem. They offer average savings of more than 50% in traveled distances demonstrating the effectiveness of a trivial matching scheme for real applications.     

The Contribution of Benefit-in-Kind Taxation Policy in Britain to the ‘Peak Car’ Phenomenon

Car use per person has historically grown year-on-year in Great Britain since the 1950s, with minor exceptions during fuel crises and times of economic recession. The ‘Peak Car’ hypothesis proposes that this historical trend no longer applies. The British National Travel Survey provides evidence of such an aggregate levelling off in car mileage per person since the mid-1990s, but further analysis shows that this is the result of counter trends netting out: in particular, a reduction in per capita male driving mileage being offset by a corresponding increase in female car driving mileage. A major contributory factor to the decline in male car use has been a sharp reduction in average company car mileage per person. This paper investigates this aspect in more detail. Use of company cars fell sharply in Britain from the 1990s up to the 2008 recession. Over the same period, taxation policy towards company cars became more onerous, with increasing levels of taxation on the benefit-in-kind value of the ownership of a company car and on the provision of free fuel for private use. The paper sets out the changes in taxation policy affecting company cars in the UK, and looks at the associated reductions in company car ownership (including free fuel) and patterns of use. It goes on to look in more detail at which groups of the population have kept company cars and in which parts of the country they have been most used, and how these patterns have changed over time. A preliminary investigation is also made of possible substitution effects between company car and personal car driving and between company car use and rail travel. Clearly, the role of the company car is only one of many factors that are contributing to aggregate changes in levels of car use in Great Britain, alongside demographic changes and a wide range of policy initiatives. But, company car use cannot fall below zero, so the effect of declining year-on-year company car mileage suppressing overall car traffic levels cannot continue indefinitely.     

Mobilizing meanings of mobility: car users’ constructions of the goods and bads of car use

When car users’ are questioned about the advantages and disadvantages of car use the focus should not be on what they say, but on how they present their arguments to the interviewer. This paper shows such arguments can differ in kind. Swedish car users present the advantages––such as ‘time-saving’––by referring to personal and direct experience. The disadvantages are of two kinds. Some are related to direct experience, such as ‘costs’. Some are made credible by reference to public discourse, notably ‘environmental degradation’. This indicates that the facts about the advantages and environmental impacts are constructed in different ways. Facts about the advantages and some of the disadvantages are constructed in a direct and unreflexive way, situated in practical actions, and leave little room for negotiation. Facts about environmental impacts are constructed by others in a distanced and reflexive process, situated in laboratories, etc. Car users adopt these facts through various media. While the arguments on the advantages of car use are presented as unquestionable and absolute, scientific facts about the negative effects of car use are presented as relative and negotiable. This should be seen as a possible explanation why people do not reduce their own car use, although they say that car use in general ought to be limited.     

Is car drivers’ response to congestion charging schemes based on the correct perception of price signals?

This paper deals with the question of whether the capability of car drivers to estimate the cost of a new hypothetical, highly differentiated congestion charge influences their decision to change travel behaviour. The analysis makes use of an integrated choice and latent variable model (ICLV) which merges classic choice models with the structural equation approach (SEM) for latent variables. This hybrid model improves the explanatory power considerably compared with a conventional discrete choice model. The results suggest that charge complexity decreases the resistance in considering behavioural changes. Car drivers tend to avoid a travel option where the price is not known beforehand, a phenomenon known as ambiguity avoidance.     

Commuters’ behavior towards upgraded bus services in Greater Beirut: Implications for greenhouse gas emissions,social welfare and transport policy

Climate change is one of the most critical environmental challenges faced in the world today. The transportation sector alone contributes to 22% of carbon emissions, of which 80% are contributed by road transportation. In this paper we investigate the potential private car greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction and social welfare gains resulting from upgrading the bus service in the Greater Beirut Area. To this end, a stated preference (SP) survey on mode switching from private car to bus was conducted in this area and analyzed by means of a mixed logit model. We then used the model outputs to simulate aggregate switching behavior in the study area and the attendant welfare and environmental gains and private car GHG emissions reductions under various alternative scenarios of bus service upgrade. We recommend a bundle of realistic bus service improvements in the short term that will result in a reasonable shift to buses and measurable reduction in private car emissions. We argue that such improvements will need to be comprehensive in scope and include both improvements in bus level of service attributes (access/egress time, headway, in-vehicle travel time, and number of transfers) and the provision of amenities, including air-conditioning and Wi-Fi. Moreover, such a service needs to be cheaply priced to achieve reasonably high levels of switching behavior. With a comprehensively overhauled bus service, one would expect that bus ridership would increase for commuting purposes at first, and once the habit for it is formed, for travel purposes other than commuting, hence dramatically broadening the scope of private car GHG emissions reduction. This said, this study demonstrates the limits of focused sectorial policies in targeting and reducing private car GHG emissions, and highlights the need for combining behavioral interventions with other measures, most notably technological innovations, in order for the contribution of this sector to GHG emissions mitigation to be sizable.     

Predictors of car use habit strength in an urban Norwegian public

Car use in urban areas carries well known risks for negative effects on urban quality of life, the environment and land use. Previous psychological work has mainly studied the habit of using a car as a predictor variable, whereas only a few studies have focused on psychological factors that may underlie and shape the habit. The aim of the present study is to examine demographic characteristics, spatial variables and social–psychological factors associated with car habit use strength. The results are based on a survey conducted in a random urban population-based sample with car access recruited from the Norwegian population registry (n = 878). Car use habit strength was stronger among male than female respondents and tended to be weak with a lower income. Multivariate logistic regression showed that reporting pro-environmental attitudes and personal norms predicted a weak car use habit strength, while reporting strong priority of flexibility and a long distance from home to work predicted a strong car use habit strength. Car use habit is influenced by multiple demographic, spatial and social–psychological factors, which should be carefully addressed in interventions aimed at reducing the likelihood of developing a strong car habit strength.     

Sustainability and automobility among the elderly: An international assessment

In the next three decades there will a huge increase in both the absolute number of older people and in their percentage of the populationin almost all Western European countries, North America, and Australia. Most older people will have active lifestyles in which mobility and access play a major role and almost all older men and a majority of older women will be car drivers, used to the convenience and flexibility which the car provides.Using data from the US, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the paper shows that, in spite of cultural and policy differences, older people around the world are more likely to have a license, to take more trips, and to do so more often as the driver of a car than older people just a decade ago; they are also less likely to use public transit. These trends have a number of sustainability implications – the most obvious one is increased environmental pollution. For example, even though older people may travel less than younger drivers they may be polluting proportionately more because a) they are less likely to make as great a proportion of trips in public transit as younger people and b) the trips they do make may create more pollutants. In addition, older drivers may incur more wasted miles due to wayfinding errors and trip-scouting behavior. And when older people curtail their driving, younger family members may have to increase (or lengthen) their trip-making to provide needed services or additional transportation.While this paper stresses the environmental problems posed by an aging population, effective strategies arise from a focus on a broader definition of sustainability. The most important approach is to accept the inevitable and work to make the private car "greener" and safer. New transit service concepts and strategic community and neighborhood design and service elements can complement the development of cleaner cars.Although many of the potential strategies are not new, or can be expensive to implement, the convergence of environmental concerns with other problems arising from the automobility of the elderly – including increasing crash rates and serious loss of mobility among those unable to drive – may make these policies more politically viable than in the past.     

The role of urban form and transit in city car dependence: Analysis of 26 global cities from 1960 to 2000

Car dependence is in decline in most developed cities, but its cause is still unclear as cities struggle with priorities in urban form and transport infrastructure. This paper draws conclusions from analysis of data in 26 cities over the last 40 years of the 20th century. Statistical modelling techniques are applied to urban transport and urban form data, while examining the influence of region, city archetype and individual fixed effects. Structural equation modelling is employed to address causation and understand the direct and indirect effects of selected parameters on per capita vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT). Findings suggest that, while location effects are important, transit service levels and urban density play a significant part in determining urban car use per capita, and causality does flow from these factors towards a city’s levels of private vehicle travel as well as the level of the provision of road capacity.     

Driving to save time or saving time to drive? The enduring appeal of the private car

Use of the private car is often viewed as highly problematic. It is regularly associated with global physical, social and ecological harms such as climate change and the high incidence of lifestyle diseases, including heart disease. Attempts to address these problems generally include provision for day-to-day physical mobility based on alternatives to the private car. Labelled alternative transport, these modes include public transport, walking and cycling. Yet the private car continues as the preferred way to travel in many cities. A deeper understanding of this preference can reveal under explored sites of resistance to alternative transport modes.This paper contributes to these understandings by examining the role the car as a time saving device plays in sustaining automobility. Its central proposition is that individual decisions to drive are not necessarily motivated by the desire to save time. The paper draws on empirical evidence on the journey to work in Australia’s largest city, Sydney. Using a systematic process of trip substitution analysis, a group of people were identified who could use alternative transport to get to work in the same amount of time it currently takes them to drive. These people then participated in a series of in-depth interviews where deeper attachments and motivations for private car use were explored.This approach has enabled development of the multi-layered understanding that informs the central proposition that individual decisions to drive are not necessarily motivated by the desire to save time. Instead, automobility is sustained by appeals to flexibility and autonomy, as well as the interminable pull of the sensory experience provided by the cocoon of the car. This way of thinking about resistance to alternative transport exposes a series of inconsistencies between the expectations of those planning for, and those anticipated to one day use, alternative transport.     

Establishing car sharing services in rural areas: a simulation-based fleet operations analysis

Today, car sharing represents a generally accepted and widespread mode of individual transport. Car sharing providers operate their fleets effectively in many cities around the world. Surprisingly, rural areas don’t seem to have been considered in provider’s current expansion strategies. However, studies suggest that car sharing would have the greatest impact on improving sustainability and reducing traffic if it were offered nationwide. In this paper, we analyze the factors that prevent car sharing enterprises from developing their services in rural regions. Supported by a simulation model, we elaborate strategic implications on how to deal with potential hindrances such as lower demand or longer driving distances. For this purpose, a symbiosis of urban and rural car sharing services was analyzed. Our findings indicate a certain feasibility of rural car sharing development, while highlighting the positive effect it could have on car sharing demand in urban areas.

     

Optimal transport strategies for European cities

A new procedure for generating optimal transport strategies has been applied in nine European cities. A public sector objective function which reflects concerns over efficiency, environmental impact, finance and sustainability is specified and a set of policy measures with acceptable ranges on each, identified. Optimal strategies based on combinations of these policy measures which generate the optimal value of the objective function, are identified, and compared between cities. Resulting policy recommendations are presented. The results demonstrate the importance of an integrated approach to transport strategy formulation. They emphasise the role of changes in public transport service levels and of fares, and of charges for car use. By contrast, new infrastructure projects are less frequently justified. In the majority of cities the revenues from car use charges are sufficient to finance other elements in the strategy. However, private sector involvement either in initial financing or in operation may be desirable. Revised objective functions to reflect private sector involvement are specified, and optimal strategies with private sector operation of public transport are also identified. The requirement to meet private sector rates of return for public transport operation typically results in lower frequencies and higher fares; charges for car use then need to be raised to satisfy public policy objectives, but system performance is reduced. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Young people and the private car: A love-hate relationship

Urban mobility is one of the main concerns of the public authorities in developed countries. In France, household travel surveys are conducted every ten years in major cities to gather weekday mobility data. They enable decision-makers to better understand travel patterns, their change and their determinants, in order to adapt transport infrastructures to the population′s needs. While the automobile has allowed the level of mobility to increase since 1950, an unexpected finding has emerged from recent surveys in most developed countries, namely that there has been a marked decline in car use. Analyses show that this trend is mainly because young adults (18–34 years old) are less likely to acquire a driver′s license. This paper tries to better understand the decrease in the rate of driver′s license holding among young adults in the Lyon conurbation and to quantify the impact of the main explanatory factors in a temporal perspective. It also aims to analyze the consequences of this trend on private car use as a driver for daily trips. It quantifies the influence of economic, socio-demographic and spatial factors on driver ′ s license holding and car use by considering the responses to the last three household travels surveys conducted in the Lyon conurbation area (1995, 2006 and 2015). The temporal dimension allows us to highlight a change in the relationship between young adults and the private car in the French context.     

Restricted car-use and perceived accessibility

In order to plan for, and achieve, a sustainable and accessible transport system, research and policies alike recognize a need to implement and enhance alternative transport options in favor of the private car. Moreover, these sustainable alternatives need to offer sufficient levels of accessibility regardless of where people live or work. We present and discuss an approach for capturing and evaluating perceived accessibility, with the ability to differentiate between individuals. Levels of perceived accessibility are compared before and after a fictive car use restriction, and between residential areas, using data from 2711 residents of Malmö, Sweden. A main conclusion is that levels of perceived accessibility become significantly lower for car users when they are limited in their options for daily travel. The difference is more substantive for frequent car users, who already travel less by sustainable modes today. There are also significant differences in levels of perceived accessibility in the restricted scenario, depending on where individuals live. These novel findings may not come as a surprise, but they emphasize the importance of including and analyzing perceptions of car users when designing accessible and sustainable transport systems. The paper ends with a discussion on how to facilitate the transition from current transport systems to an inclusive and accessible system.     

Relationship between service quality and demand for inter-urban buses

This article proposes a model for analysing the modal choice of travellers making inter-urban journeys. Discrete choice models with systematic and random tastes variation were applied to find the most relevant variables for encouraging the use of public transport by bus rather than private car. This research follows on from the results of previous user satisfaction studies on inter-urban bus services in the province of Burgos (Spain). Willingness to pay is also estimated for time savings or other improvements in the bus service.The results indicate that, in general, improvements in the journey time or the number of daily journeys are valued less by inter-urban bus users than they are by car or railway users. The type of bus and its characteristics are evaluated as a function of the distance travelled and result in very small values for this variable. Contrary to what is often reported in satisfaction surveys, the journey cost is found to be relevant when choosing which mode of transport to use, but the most important variable is journey time. Little value is placed on the features of the bus, except on long distance journeys.Finally, a methodology differentiating four hierarchical groups is presented for comparing the results of the relevant variables in demand and satisfaction models. Some only improve perception rather than encourage new users, while others increase take-up but do not improve the image of the service.     

Car sharing in Norwegian urban areas: Examining interest,intention and the decision to enrol

This article’s objective is to investigate the effects of sociodemographic and residential built environments, directly and indirectly through personality traits, attitudes and car ownership, on willingness to use car sharing in the case of Norway. This is done by examining multiple dimensions of the adoption process: the stated general interest and intention to participate in car sharing among non-members, as well as the decision to enrol as a car sharing user by comparing members to non-members. In this study, we analyse web survey data from 2414 residents from urban areas in Norway, using three structural equation models. Our findings indicate that the adoption of car sharing is complexly related to car ownership, with a noteworthy discrepancy indicating greater car sharing interest, but lower car sharing membership rates among car owners. We also find that environmental concerns exert a clear positive effect on all three dimensions of the adoption process. Being careful with money is linked negatively to interest and intention to participate, while being sociable and agreeable exerts no effect. Car sharers’ sociodemographic profiles are typically that of early adopters, but many of the effects, especially on interest, are mediated by car ownership, environmental consciousness and/or being careful with money, rather than directly on the sociodemographic profiles. Finally, we find car sharing to be more prominent in denser areas, but we did not discover a clear connection with access to public transport.     

Parking policies in large cities in Germany

This article deals with highly motorized large West German cities of about 200,000 inhabitants and more, which usually provide reasonable public transport systems. Illegal parking with shares of about 40 to 50% of the total parking is widespread in the parking problem areas of those cities, especially in the inner-city residential and mixed-use areas. Parking spaces are demanded by residents, employees, customers and visitors, and by delivery and service traffic. The different characteristics of parking demands by different user groups are discussed. The total parking supply consists of public and private spaces. The share of private spaces is about 40 to 50% of the total parking spaces in German cities. The amount of car traffic generated by a parking space depends on parking duration and parking turnover, as well as on search traffic. So the change of a space from long-duration use of an employee to short-duration of customers — as often discussed in parking concepts — generates at least five-fold car traffic. The measurements and effects of parking control of public spaces as well as the parking regulations in zoning ordinances, restrictions on the construction of new private parking spaces and park-and-ride are discussed. Finally, a parking concept methodology — using the example of Frankfurt am Main — is discussed.     

Transport Demand Management in Turkey: A Genetic Algorithm Approach

Abstract

This article proposes new models for estimating transport demand using a genetic algorithm (GA) approach. Based on population, gross national product and number of vehicles, four forms of the genetic algorithm transport planning (GATP) model are developed – one exponential and the others taking quadratic forms – and applied to Turkey. The best fit models in terms of minimum total average relative errors in the test period are selected for future estimation. Demand management strategies are proposed based on three scenarios: restricting private car use, restricting truck use and the simultaneous management of private car use and goods movement. Results show that the GATP model may be used to estimate transport demand in terms of passenger-kilometers traveled (pass-km), vehicle-kilometers traveled (veh-km) and ton-kilometers completed (ton-km). Results also show that the third scenario – simultaneous restrictions on private car use and goods movement – could reduce total veh-km by about 35% by 2025 in this study of Turkish rural roads.