Suburban dwellers report higher usage of public transit and reduced use of personal vehicles as a result of utilizing Transportation Network Companies (TNCs).

Survey data from users of various shared mobility services in California on the impacts these services on travel behaviors.

Date Posted
07/26/2018
Identifier
2018-B01276
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The Adoption of Shared Mobility in California and Its Relationship with Other Components of Travel Behavior

Summary Information

This source document explores the use of various types of shared mobility services in California, focusing in particular on the factors affecting the adoption and frequency of use of ridehailing services (such as those provided by Uber and Lyft) and the impacts that the use of these services has on other components of travel behavior.



METHODOLOGY



The study analyzes a dataset collected with a detailed online survey in fall 2015 as the first round of data collection in a panel study of emerging transportation trends and adoption of technology in California. More than 2,000 completed the survey. The study employed a quota sampling approach to ensure that a sufficient number of respondents were sampled from each of six main geographic regions of California and from three neighborhood types (urban, suburban, and rural). The survey collected information on individual attitudes and preferences; lifestyles; use of ICT (information and communication technologies) and adoption of online social media; residential location and living arrangements; commuting and other travel patterns (including both short-distance and long-distance travel); auto ownership; awareness, adoption and frequency of use of several types of shared-mobility services; major life events that happened in the past three years; future expectations, aspirations and propensity to purchase and use a private vehicle versus travel by other means of travel; and socio-demographic traits.

FINDINGS

The use of Uber/Lyft increases the use of public transit (e.g., providing access to transit stations) among a group of predominantly suburban dwellers who live in less accessible areas but try to be multimodal when possible and have pro-environmental attitudes. This group includes 10 percent of users, who use ridehailing occasionally.

Ridehailing substitutes for the use of a personal vehicle among the member of the second largest class (37 percent of users) that is composed of affluent suburban dwellers with positive attitudes towards car ownership and use, and high vehicle miles traveled (VMT).

The use of Uber/Lyft increases the use of public transit (e.g., providing access to transit stations) among a group of predominantly suburban dwellers who live in less accessible areas but try to be multimodal when possible and have pro-environmental attitudes. This group includes 10 percent of users, who use ridehailing occasionally.

A large majority of the respondents (including both frequent and non-frequent users) reported that the use of Uber/Lyft reduced their use of a personal car.
Goal Areas
Deployment Locations