Shared ride services in North America: definitions, impacts, and the future of pooling

TLDR

Shared ride services, encompassing ridesharing, ridesplitting, taxi sharing, and microtransit, enable riders to share a vehicle to a common destination and, driven by advances in wireless, satellite, and cloud technologies, are increasingly adopted for their transportation, infrastructure, environmental, and social benefits. This paper reviews shared ride service models and definitions, summarizes North American impact studies, and examines the convergence of shared mobility, electrification, and automation, including the potential effects of shared automated vehicle systems. The authors conduct a comprehensive review of shared ride service models, definitions, and North American impact studies, and analyze the convergence of shared mobility, electrification, and automation, particularly shared automated vehicle systems. The review predicts that shared automated vehicles will likely increase efficiency, affordability, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but their actual impacts will depend on the number of owned AVs, sharing type, and future modal split, leading the authors to recommend that local governments and public agencies manage the transition and promote higher occupancy modes.

Abstract

Shared ride services allow riders to share a ride to a common destination. They include ridesharing (carpooling and vanpooling); ridesplitting (a pooled version of ridesourcing/transportation network companies); taxi sharing; and microtransit. In recent years, growth of Internet-enabled wireless technologies, global satellite systems, and cloud computing - coupled with data sharing – are causing people to increase their use of mobile applications to share a ride. Some shared ride services, such as carpooling and vanpooling, can provide transportation, infrastructure, environmental, and social benefits. This paper reviews common shared ride service models, definitions, and summarises existing North American impact studies. Additionally, we explore the convergence of shared mobility; electrification; and automation, including the potential impacts of shared automated vehicle (SAV) systems. While SAV impacts remain uncertain, many practitioners and academic research predict higher efficiency, affordability, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The impacts of SAVs will likely depend on the number of personally owned automated vehicles; types of sharing (concurrent or sequential); and the future modal split among public transit, shared fleets, and pooled rides. We conclude the paper with recommendations for local governments and public agencies to help in managing the transition to highly automated vehicles and encouraging higher occupancy modes.