Public Acceptance and Adoption of Shared-Ride Services in the Ride-Hailing Industry

Abstract

On-demand ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft, often referred to as transportation network companies (TNCs), now provide shared-ride services, such as UberPool or Lyft Shared. Shared-ride services match riders with similar origins and destinations together. Passengers benefit from these services by paying reduced fares for the additional time spent picking up and dropping off additional passengers. This study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the social and behavioral considerations associated with travelers’ acceptance of shared-rides and how those considerations factor into individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for shared-ride services. We conducted a survey of TNC users through Qualtrics in February of 2020, which had 1609 respondents from ten major metropolitan areas across the United States. In addition to the survey, we also conducted one focus group in Detroit, Michigan which supplements our survey results with the narratives of actual TNC users. We found that (a) the average WTP is significantly less for a shared-ride than a solo-ride and that this average decreases at a decreasing rate with each additional passenger; (b) the average WTP for a commuter ride is less than a leisure ride, which could be due to feelings that ridesharing is unreliable and inconvenient in regard to fixed work schedules; (c) the average WTP for a leisure ride is higher than a commute ride, which could be due to the value that individuals place on not having to drink and drive and to avoid parking hassles, and; (d) the presence of an option that allows riders to be matched based on social preferences of “happy to chat”, “quiet preferred”, or “no preference” results in a decrease in WTP. This study revealed that although most interventions are viewed as positive additions to TNC services and that social and behavioral motivation for using shared-ride services are relevant, they matter less when compared to traditional factors, such as time and cost.