TITLE:
Transportation Users’ Attitudes and Choices of Ride-Hailing Services in Two Cities with Different Attributes
AUTHORS:
Virginia P. Sisiopiku, Syed Ahnaf Morshed, Sahila Sarjana, Mohammed Hadi
KEYWORDS:
Transportation Network Companies (TNC), Ride-Hailing, Travel Behavior, Mode Choice, Survey, Birmingham, Miami Beach
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Transportation Technologies,
Vol.11 No.2,
April
6,
2021
ABSTRACT: The
rapid technological developments in the 21st century created new
opportunities for shared-use economy applications around the globe. Among other services, Transportation Network Companies
(TNCs) like Uber and Lyft emerged in
the US as a transportation alternative that offered a higher level of availability, reliability, and convenience than
traditional modes. However, TNCs
deployment was also blamed for increases in vehicle miles traveled (VMT)
in large cities that embraced TNC services early on. Concerns about TNC
adoption are also magnified by the current controversy in policy and
legislation as to the regulation of TNCs. These new realizations create a need
to examine the transportation users’ attitudes and perceptions regarding
ride-hailing service, after nearly a decade of service in the Unites States
market. In doing so, this paper compares and contrasts results from two
recently completed studies aiming at creating links between socio-demographic
factors and TNC use. The paper describes the methods employed to collect the
data and presents findings from the analysis of 790 users’ responses in the
Birmingham, AL and Miami Beach, FL markets. The study documents preferences and
attitudes toward TNCs and highlights similarities and differences in travel
behaviors related to local considerations. Moreover, the study uses the Least
Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (Lasso) method to identify predictors
for TNC use based on the users’ responses in Birmingham and Miami Beach case
studies. Vehicle availability and waiting time emerged as the only significant predictors for the Birmingham
region whereas vehicle ownership, vehicle use, residency, and prior use
of transit and TNC where some of the predictors identified for the Miami Beach
area. Understanding the characteristics of TNC users and the leading reasons
that drive people towards the use of TNCs services is expected to help
transportation agencies and TNC providers in their efforts to plan for
transportation services that meet customer needs in the future.