On-Demand Ridesourcing

An Evaluation of Via Rideshare Service in West Sacramento: An Exploratory Analysis Through Surveys and Expert Interviews

Elliot Martin, Aqshems Nichols, Susan Shaheen
2019
The UC Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) conducted an evaluation for the City of West Sacramento of the pilot Via Rideshare System, which began providing rides to customers in May of 2018 and is currently in operation. This analysis presents the findings from surveys and expert interviews. Surveys were deployed to both users and non-users of the pilot service in order to assess the behavioral impacts of the system on users and to...

Going My Way? Understanding Curb Management and Incentive Policies to Increase Pooling Service Use and Public Transit Linkages in the San Francisco Bay Area

Wesley Darling, Jacquelyn Broader, Adam Cohen, Susan Shaheen
2023

Despite lower user costs, only 20% to 40% of transportation network company (TNC) us-ers select a pooled, or shared, ride option. Why are existing TNC users not selecting the pooled option or using TNCs to connect to public transit, and what role do built environment features and incentives play in their decision? This study explores the factors that influence TNC user decisions through a multi-method approach comprising photovoice small group discussions and a workshop. Between...

Lyft Is Paying People to Stop Driving for a Month

September 26, 2018

Co-founder of Lyft, John Zimmer, speaking

An incentive program points to the company’s ambitions beyond ride-hailing

Two years ago John Zimmer, Lyft Inc.’s co-founder and president, predicted that car ownership would be non-existent in major American cities by 2025. With seven years left to turn the country’s transportation landscape upside down, Lyft is now offering to pay people in about three-dozen cities...

Uber and Lyft are driving toward IPOs

October 18, 2018

Image of a car door with stickers on it

Uber and Lyft already compete in ride-hailing, ride-sharing, bike-sharing and e-scooters. Next year, they'll be competing for investors, too: Both companies are reportedly planning initial public offerings for early 2019.

For years, the companies have subsidized rides to keep costs low for customers. That fueled their growth, which in turn pumped up their expected...

To Pool or Not To Pool?

December 1, 2021

Image of a highway with a blur of vehicle lights over it

Over the past decade, on-demand mobility services have changed the way people travel. These services include app-based ride-hailing companies (also known as transportation network companies or TNCs), such as Lyft and Uber. TNCs offer flexible, on-demand rides that can supplement public transit and personal vehicles, and can lower the barriers to living car-...

Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox Demonstration: Valley Metro Mobility Platform Evaluation Report

Elliot Martin
Ziad Yassine
Adam Cohen
Susan Shaheen
Les Brown
2020

This report evaluates the Valley Metro Mobility Platform project, part of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox program. Valley Metro currently provides a Valley Metro RidekickTM mobile application for its users that features tripplanning for light rail and buses. The Mobility Platform project aimed to develop new trip planning features and an integrated payment ...

To Pool or Not to Pool? Understanding the Time and Price Tradeoffs of OnDemand Ride Users – Opportunities, Challenges, and Social Equity Considerations for Policies to Promote Shared-Ride Services

Susan Shaheen, Jessica Lazarus, Juan Caicedo, Alexandre Bayen
2021

On-demand mobility services including transportation network companies (also known as ridesourcing and ridehailing) like Lyft and Uber are changing the way that people travel by providing dynamic mobility that can supplement public transit and personal-vehicle use. However, TNC services have been found to contribute to increasing vehicle mileage, traffic congestion, and greenhouse gas emissions. Pooling rides ⎯ sharing a vehicle by multiple passengers to complete journeys of similar origin and destination ⎯ can increase the average vehicle occupancy of TNC trips and thus mitigate...

Mobility on Demand Planning and Implementation: Current Practices, Innovations, and Emerging Mobility Futures

Susan Shaheen, Adam Cohen, Jacquelyn Broader, Richard Davis, Les Brown, Radha Neelekantan, Deepak Gopalakrishna
2020

This report provides Mobility on Demand (MOD) planning and implementation practices and tools to support communities. The report discusses different stakeholders in the MOD ecosystem and the role of partnerships in filling spatial, temporal, and other service gaps. Additionally, the report discusses how MOD can be integrated into transportation planning and modeling. The report also discusses shared mobility implementation considerations, such as rights-of-way management, multimodal integration, data sharing, equity, labor impacts, and the role of pilot evaluations. Finally, the...

Uber breaks into public sector with California deal

June 17, 2020

uber sign

Uber has signed a deal to manage public transport in Marin County, in the San Francisco Bay area, with its software.

Residents in Marin, which has a population of 250,000, will be able to book rides on public minibuses through Uber’s app, which will match riders travelling in the same direction.

Rides will cost $4 per mile, or $3 for those with disabilities or other mobility issues, with the fee going...

COVID-19 Impacts on Shared Mobility: On-Demand Rides Shifting to Delivery Services

April 26, 2020

Uber Eats Delivery Person

Image Source: Business Insider

Transportation Network Companies (TNCs, also known as ridehailing and ridesourcing) generate a significant percentage of their gross bookings from trips in large metropolitan areas, including trips to and from airports. For example, in 2019, Uber generated 23% of its ride gross bookings from five metropolitan areas — Chicago, London, Los...