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2 Trends and Context
Pages 11-37

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From page 11...
... This chapter provides context for the rest of the report, beginning with an overview of how technology is affecting all types of transportation. It then describes the new mobility services that rely on innovations in information and communication and other new technologies and what is known about the current use of shared mobility services.
From page 12...
... , among many other technologies, is helping to optimize logistics and freight delivery, facilitate planning for personal vehicle and public transportation trips, and simplify payments for tolls and transit fees. The new technologies, combined with new business and service models, are key elements of the next generation of transportation infrastructure and services.
From page 13...
... The New Mobility Services There are many possible ways to categorize the existing set of innovative mobility services, even as newly developing options continually blur the lines demarcating one from another. The descriptions that follow, summarized in Table 2-1, provide brief overviews of the
From page 14...
... Reservations and tracking of vehicles; billing; matching of riders for shared rides; quality control via online customer feedback Convenience of arranging ride just prior to travel; customer tracking of vehicles and wait times reduces uncertainty; national branding encourages use while traveling Critical mass of users to support widespread vehicle availability; comfort with riding with strangers; critical mass to match riders for shared rides Microtransit (examples: Bridj, Chariot) Reservations and tracking of vehicles; determining routes from public demand; billing On-board wi-fi and efficient routing to match customer demand; customer tracking of vehicles and wait times reduces uncertainty Critical mass of users to support a variety of routes; comfort with riding with strangers; price points that, while higher than those of standard transit, allow for regular commuting Taxi apps or e-hail (examples: Flywheel, Curb, myTaxi)
From page 15...
... It differs from traditional car rental in that most carsharing rentals are for minutes or hours instead of days or weeks, although there are some variations. By providing members with access to vehicles on demand, carsharing organizations can reduce the need for personal vehicle ownership.
From page 16...
... . A number of public bikesharing business models have evolved in the United States.
From page 17...
... Current Use of Shared Mobility Services The eventual role of shared mobility services remains to be determined as these new business models are deployed more fully and mature in the marketplace. Their role may be as an adjunct to or partial replacement for traditional taxi, limousine, and transit services, or they may be part of a more profound transformation of urban
From page 18...
... Others have speculated that broadly available and affordable TNC services could affect vehicle ownership decisions and more substantially alter household travel behavior. While acknowledging those prospects, it is nonetheless important to add perspective by understanding current travel behavior as it relates to shared mobility services.
From page 19...
... In the context of the overall ground transportation system in the United States, however, taxis and limousines account for a small proportion of trips. Taxi and limousine services represent 0.30 percent of person trips, 0.20 percent of household VMT, and 0.16 percent of person miles traveled in the United States.
From page 20...
... 4 For example, the ability to take a taxi to the airport leaves a household vehicle home for other family members to use and avoids the time and cost of airport parking, providing an attractive ground access option for travelers. Similarly, a transit commuter can use taxi services during the workday to reach a business meeting or lunch appointment, thereby making it easier to commute by means other than driving, including public transit.
From page 21...
... The section below on impacts provides results of research on car- and bikesharing in selected urban areas, including estimates of their impacts on singleoccupant vehicle travel, vehicle ownership, and use of other modes. Transportation Network Companies The growth of TNCs has been rapid, even meteoric, but surprisingly little is known about the scale and performance of these private firms, which are subject to limited public regulation.
From page 22...
... were reportedly using the e-hail app Flywheel, which has brought taxi wait times closely in line with those of ridesourcing (Sachin Kansal, unpublished data)
From page 23...
... Also unknown is whether new and older urban residents such as retirees, the cohort with the least use of TNCs, will increase their TNC use when settling into urban areas. Summary of Current Use The preceding sections draw on fragmentary and disparate data sources in an attempt to place the scale and growth of TNCs and 6 These data, derived from business trip expense reports compiled by Certify, enable direct comparison of TNC and taxi fares in the same cities for the types and lengths of trips taken by business travelers (e.g., between airports and hotels and between hotels and meeting places)
From page 24...
... As shown in the figure below, frequency of use varies with age. About 10 percent of respondents 18 to 44 years of age reported using ridesharing applications once or twice per week or month, and about 6 percent reported using them almost daily.
From page 25...
... Only 1 percent of student registered voters said they used ridesharing applications almost every day, but 7 percent used them once or twice per week or month. About 11 percent of Hispanics reported using ridesharing applications once or twice per week or month, compared with 4 percent of whites and 7 percent of African Americans.
From page 26...
... Four percent of student registered voters said they used taxi services almost every day (versus 1 percent who reported almost daily use of ridesharing applications)
From page 27...
... Trend data on taxi trips and passenger miles are not available, but industry revenues, operators, and drivers have increased by 42, 54, and 32 percent, respectively, since 2000. Taxis are estimated to represent 0.2 percent of person trips, a figure that appears small at the national level but nonetheless represents 738 million trips annually.
From page 28...
... corroborate this shift away from public transportation, reporting that among survey respondents, 35 percent of casual users and 45 percent of annual members of Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C., replaced a public transit trip with bikesharing. Respondents to surveys of carsharing members report similarly substantial shifts in travel behavior.
From page 29...
... found that for every carsharing vehicle, 9 to 13 personal vehicles were shed, and that carsharing vehicles had a 10-mpg greater average fuel economy relative to the vehicles shed by survey respondents. These results, however, may not be representative because of the low response rate (10 percent of potential respondents)
From page 30...
... For example, a direct impact of TNCs may be to reduce personal vehicle trips, but the TNC pickup and drop-off mileage may result in more total travel. On the other hand, if TNCs enable or encourage higher vehicle occupancies or skew overall travel behavior away from single-occupant vehicle travel by reducing personal vehicle ownership, they may have positive impacts in terms of minimizing VMT.
From page 31...
... It is also possible, however, that these new services will have the opposite effects. Convenient and inexpensive shared rides in TNC and other vehicles may attract transit riders who currently travel in much more space- and energy-efficient buses and trains.
From page 32...
... Whether urban mobility services, and TNCs in particular, will affect the broad and enduring trend of single-occupant vehicle trips is of considerable interest and importance in planning for infrastructure capacity and managing vehicle emissions. Carsharing and bikesharing, which have a longer history than TNCs and microtransit, are reducing automobile ownership and VMT in personal vehicles -- as well as drawing travelers away from transit -- among the small share of early-adopting urbanites that currently use these services.
From page 33...
... Trends and Context 33 ownership, and residential and commercial location preferences remain to be seen as these options grow and serve different market segments and geographic areas. Studying and documenting these developments will be important to inform public policy debates.
From page 34...
... First Look at ShortTerm Users, Annual Members, and Area Cyclists in the Washington, D.C., Region. In Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No.
From page 35...
... 2014. Evaluating Public Transit Modal Shift Dynamics in Response to Bikesharing: A Tale of Two U.S.
From page 36...
... 2014. The Impact of Millennials' Travel Behavior on Future Personal Vehicle Travel.
From page 37...
... U.S. Passenger Miles.


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