IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jotrge/v97y2021ics0966692321002726.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The relationship between ridehailing and public transit in Chicago: A comparison before and after COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Meredith-Karam, Patrick
  • Kong, Hui
  • Wang, Shenhao
  • Zhao, Jinhua

Abstract

As Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) have expanded their role in U.S. cities recently, their services (i.e. ridehailing) have been subject to scrutiny for displacing public transit (PT) ridership. Previous studies have attempted to classify the relationship between transit and TNCs, though analysis has been limited by a lack of granular TNC trip records, or has been conducted at aggregated scales. This study seeks to understand the TNC-PT relationship in Chicago at a spatially and temporally granular level by analyzing detailed individual trip records. An analysis framework is developed which enables TNC trips to be classified according to their potential relationship with transit: complementary (providing access to/from transit), substitutive (replacing a transit alternative), or independent (not desirably completable by transit). This framework is applied to both regular operating conditions and to early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, to identify the TNC-PT relationship in these two contexts. We find that complementary TNC trips make up a small fraction of trips taken (approximately 2%), while potential independent trips represent 48% to 53% and potential substitution trips represent 45% to 50%. The percentage of substitution trips drops substantially following COVID-19 shutdowns (to around 14%). This may be attributed to a reduction in work-based TNC trips from Chicago's north side, indicated by changes in spatial distributions and flattening of trips occurring during peak hours. Furthermore, using spatial regression, we find that an increased tendency of TNC trips to substitute transit is related to a lower proportion of elderly people, greater proportion of peak-period TNC travel, greater transit network availability, a higher percentage of white population, and increased crime rates. Our findings identify spatial and temporal trends in the tendency to use TNC services in place of public transit, and thus have potential policy implications for transit management, such as spatially targeted service improvements and safety measures to reduce the possibility of public transit being substituted by TNC services.

Suggested Citation

  • Meredith-Karam, Patrick & Kong, Hui & Wang, Shenhao & Zhao, Jinhua, 2021. "The relationship between ridehailing and public transit in Chicago: A comparison before and after COVID-19," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:97:y:2021:i:c:s0966692321002726
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103219
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692321002726
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103219?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Young, Mischa & Farber, Steven, 2019. "The Who, Why, and When of Uber and other Ride-hailing Trips: An Examination of a Large Sample Household Travel Survey," OSF Preprints x7ryj, Center for Open Science.
    2. Barajas, Jesus M. & Brown, Anne, 2021. "Not minding the gap: Does ride-hailing serve transit deserts?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Rebecca Brough & Matthew Freedman & David C. Phillips, 2021. "Understanding socioeconomic disparities in travel behavior during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 753-774, September.
    4. Rayle, Lisa & Dai, Danielle & Chan, Nelson & Cervero, Robert & Shaheen, Susan, 2016. "Just a better taxi? A survey-based comparison of taxis, transit, and ridesourcing services in San Francisco," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 168-178.
    5. Kong, Hui & Zhang, Xiaohu & Zhao, Jinhua, 2020. "How does ridesourcing substitute for public transit? A geospatial perspective in Chengdu, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. Young, Mischa & Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2020. "Measuring when Uber behaves as a substitute or supplement to transit: An examination of travel-time differences in Toronto," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Young, Mischa & Farber, Steven, 2019. "The who, why, and when of Uber and other ride-hailing trips: An examination of a large sample household travel survey," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 383-392.
    8. Rayle, Lisa & Dai, Danielle & Chan, Nelson & Cervero, Robert & Shaheen, Susan PhD, 2016. "Just A Better Taxi? A Survey-Based Comparison of Taxis, Transit, and Ridesourcing Services in San Francisco," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt60v8r346, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    9. Hawas, Yaser E. & Hassan, Mohammad Nurul & Abulibdeh, Ammar, 2016. "A multi-criteria approach of assessing public transport accessibility at a strategic level," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 19-34.
    10. Hall, Jonathan D. & Palsson, Craig & Price, Joseph, 2018. "Is Uber a substitute or complement for public transit?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 36-50.
    11. Erik Brynjolfsson & John J. Horton & Adam Ozimek & Daniel Rock & Garima Sharma & Hong-Yi TuYe, 2020. "COVID-19 and Remote Work: An Early Look at US Data," NBER Working Papers 27344, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gao, Jing & Li, Sen, 2024. "Regulating for-hire autonomous vehicles for an equitable multimodal transportation network," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Steven R. Gehrke & Michael P. Huff, 2024. "Spatial equity implications and neighborhood indicators of ridehailing trip frequency and vehicle miles traveled in the phoenix metro region," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 271-295, February.
    3. Soria, Jason & Edward, Deirdre & Stathopoulos, Amanda, 2023. "Requiem for transit ridership? An examination of who abandoned, who will return, and who will ride more with mobility as a service," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 139-154.
    4. Jing Gao & Sen Li, 2023. "Regulating For-Hire Autonomous Vehicles for An Equitable Multimodal Transportation Network," Papers 2301.05798, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2023.
    5. Zhang, Zhaolin & Zhai, Guocong & Xie, Kun & Xiao, Feng, 2022. "Exploring the nonlinear effects of ridesharing on public transit usage: A case study of San Diego," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    6. Tian, Guang & Ewing, Reid & Li, Han, 2023. "Exploring the influences of ride-hailing services on VMT and transit usage – Evidence from California," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    7. Wang, Zhiqi & Zhang, Yufeng & Jia, Bin & Gao, Ziyou, 2024. "Comparative Analysis of Usage Patterns and Underlying Determinants for Ride-hailing and Traditional Taxi Services: A Chicago Case Study," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    8. Wang, Sicheng & Huang, Xiao & Shen, Qing, 2024. "Disparities in resilience and recovery of ridesourcing usage during COVID-19," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Shengxiao(Alex) & Zhai, Wei & Jiao, Junfeng & Wang, Chao (Kenneth), 2022. "Who loses and who wins in the ride-hailing era? A case study of Austin, Texas," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 130-138.
    2. Zou, Zhenpeng & Cirillo, Cinzia, 2021. "Does ridesourcing impact driving decisions: A survey weighted regression analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1-12.
    3. Young, Mischa & Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2020. "Measuring when Uber behaves as a substitute or supplement to transit: An examination of travel-time differences in Toronto," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    4. Soria, Jason & Stathopoulos, Amanda, 2021. "Investigating socio-spatial differences between solo ridehailing and pooled rides in diverse communities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    5. Ngo, Nicole S. & Götschi, Thomas & Clark, Benjamin Y., 2021. "The effects of ride-hailing services on bus ridership in a medium-sized urban area using micro-level data: Evidence from the Lane Transit District," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 44-53.
    6. Zgheib, Najib & Abou-Zeid, Maya & Kaysi, Isam, 2020. "Modeling demand for ridesourcing as feeder for high capacity mass transit systems with an application to the planned Beirut BRT," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 70-91.
    7. Zhang, Zhaolin & Zhai, Guocong & Xie, Kun & Xiao, Feng, 2022. "Exploring the nonlinear effects of ridesharing on public transit usage: A case study of San Diego," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    8. Tirachini, Alejandro & del Río, Mariana, 2019. "Ride-hailing in Santiago de Chile: Users’ characterisation and effects on travel behaviour," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 46-57.
    9. Nair, Gopindra S. & Bhat, Chandra R. & Batur, Irfan & Pendyala, Ram M. & Lam, William H.K., 2020. "A model of deadheading trips and pick-up locations for ride-hailing service vehicles," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 289-308.
    10. Quirós, Cipriano & Portela, Javier & Marín, Raquel, 2021. "Differentiated models in the collaborative transport economy: A mixture analysis for Blablacar and Uber," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    11. Abdelwahab, Bilal & Palm, Matthew & Shalaby, Amer & Farber, Steven, 2021. "Evaluating the equity implications of ridehailing through a multi-modal accessibility framework," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    12. Brown, Anne, 2022. "Not all fees are created equal: Equity implications of ride-hail fee structures and revenues," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 1-10.
    13. He, Zhengbing, 2021. "Portraying ride-hailing mobility using multi-day trip order data: A case study of Beijing, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 152-169.
    14. Lee, Yongsung & Lee, Bumsoo, 2022. "What’s eating public transit in the United States? Reasons for declining transit ridership in the 2010s," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 126-143.
    15. Xiong, Ziyue & Jian Li, & Wu, Hangbin, 2021. "Understanding operation patterns of urban online ride-hailing services: A case study of Xiamen," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 100-118.
    16. Kong, Hui & Zhang, Xiaohu & Zhao, Jinhua, 2020. "How does ridesourcing substitute for public transit? A geospatial perspective in Chengdu, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    17. Barajas, Jesus M. & Brown, Anne, 2021. "Not minding the gap: Does ride-hailing serve transit deserts?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    18. Gehrke, Steven R., 2020. "Uber service area expansion in three major American cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    19. Qiao, Si & Zhang, Mengzhu & Yeh, Anthony Gar-On, 2023. "Mind the gender gap in ride-hailing from the demand side," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    20. Ilahi, Anugrah & Belgiawan, Prawira F. & Balac, Milos & Axhausen, Kay W., 2021. "Understanding travel and mode choice with emerging modes; a pooled SP and RP model in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 398-422.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:97:y:2021:i:c:s0966692321002726. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-transport-geography .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.