IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v170y2023ics0965856423000599.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impacts of congestion pricing on ride-hailing ridership: Evidence from Chicago

Author

Listed:
  • Zheng, Yunhan
  • Meredith-Karam, Patrick
  • Stewart, Anson
  • Kong, Hui
  • Zhao, Jinhua

Abstract

To combat congestion, promote sustainable forms of transportation, and support the public transit system, Chicago introduced a congestion pricing policy targeting transportation network company (TNC) services on January 6, 2020. This policy aimed to discourage single-occupant and peak-period TNC travel, particularly in high-congestion areas. Using TNC trip record data collected from the Chicago Data Portal, we quantify the impacts of the congestion pricing policy on TNC ridership in Chicago, differentiating between shared and single-occupant trips. Employing a Difference-in-Differences identification strategy, we find that the implementation of the congestion pricing policy led to an increase in shared TNC trip counts and a much larger decrease in single-occupant trip counts. Overall, the policy implementation is associated with a 7.1% reduction of total TNC pickup trips, a 16.4% increase of shared TNC pickup trips and a 11% reduction of single TNC pickup trips. Given the estimated policy effects, we find that the price elasticity of the TNC trip volume in the downtown areas is roughly −0.48. In terms of spatial variation, we find that the lost TNC trips were mainly trips that began and ended in the central business district. The south side of Chicago, which has a high proportion of African-American and low-income residents, shows evidence of single trip reduction for trips that began or ended in the downtown areas due to the policy implementation, but the policy did not seem to incentivize pooling to or from the downtown areas as effectively in the south side as in other regions of Chicago. Regarding the time-of-day variation, we find that the policy is more effective in encouraging trip sharing for off-peak travels than for peak-time travels. Our research provides local planners and policymakers with valuable insights into the impacts of the congestion pricing policy. The method and findings of this research can also be used for other cities that are considering adopting congestion pricing policies on TNCs in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Zheng, Yunhan & Meredith-Karam, Patrick & Stewart, Anson & Kong, Hui & Zhao, Jinhua, 2023. "Impacts of congestion pricing on ride-hailing ridership: Evidence from Chicago," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:170:y:2023:i:c:s0965856423000599
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2023.103639
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856423000599
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2023.103639?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    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," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 383-392.
    2. Mi Diao & Hui Kong & Jinhua Zhao, 2021. "Impacts of transportation network companies on urban mobility," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(6), pages 494-500, June.
    3. 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.
    4. Zheng, Yunhan & Moody, Joanna & Wang, Shenhao & Zhao, Jinhua, 2021. "Measuring policy leakage of Beijing’s car ownership restriction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 223-236.
    5. Lechner, Michael, 2011. "The Estimation of Causal Effects by Difference-in-Difference Methods," Foundations and Trends(R) in Econometrics, now publishers, vol. 4(3), pages 165-224, November.
    6. Zheng, Siqi & Sun, Weizeng & Wu, Jianfeng & Kahn, Matthew E., 2017. "The birth of edge cities in China: Measuring the effects of industrial parks policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 80-103.
    7. Brodeur, Abel & Nield, Kerry, 2018. "An empirical analysis of taxi, Lyft and Uber rides: Evidence from weather shocks in NYC," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 1-16.
    8. Lazarus, Jessica R. & Caicedo, Juan D. & Bayen, Alexandre M. & Shaheen, Susan A., 2021. "To Pool or Not to Pool? Understanding opportunities, challenges, and equity considerations to expanding the market for pooling," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 199-222.
    9. Sen Li & Kameshwar Poolla & Pravin Varaiya, 2020. "Impact of Congestion Charge and Minimum Wage on TNCs: A Case Study for San Francisco," Papers 2003.02550, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2021.
    10. Susan Shaheen & Adam Cohen, 2019. "Shared ride services in North America: definitions, impacts, and the future of pooling," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 427-442, July.
    11. Nguyen-Phuoc, Duy Quy & Su, Diep Ngoc & Tran, Phuong Thi Kim & Le, Diem-Trinh Thi & Johnson, Lester W., 2020. "Factors influencing customer's loyalty towards ride-hailing taxi services – A case study of Vietnam," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 96-112.
    12. Li, Sen & Poolla, Kameshwar & Varaiya, Pravin, 2021. "Impact of congestion charge and minimum wage on TNCs: A case study for San Francisco," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 237-261.
    13. Alejandro Tirachini, 2020. "Ride-hailing, travel behaviour and sustainable mobility: an international review," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 2011-2047, August.
    14. Schwieterman, Joseph & Smith, C. Scott, 2018. "Sharing the ride: A paired-trip analysis of UberPool and Chicago Transit Authority services in Chicago, Illinois," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 9-16.
    15. Alejandro Henao & Wesley E. Marshall, 2019. "The impact of ride-hailing on vehicle miles traveled," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 2173-2194, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Ho, Chinh Q. & Tirachini, Alejandro, 2024. "Mobility-as-a-Service and the role of multimodality in the sustainability of urban mobility in developing and developed countries," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 161-176.
    2. Alejandro Tirachini, 2020. "Ride-hailing, travel behaviour and sustainable mobility: an international review," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 2011-2047, August.
    3. Gehrke, Steven R., 2020. "Uber service area expansion in three major American cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    4. Liang, Yuan & Yu, Bingjie & Zhang, Xiaojian & Lu, Yi & Yang, Linchuan, 2023. "The short-term impact of congestion taxes on ridesourcing demand and traffic congestion: Evidence from Chicago," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    5. Muhamad Rizki & Tri Basuki Joewono & Dimas Bayu Endrayana Dharmowijoyo & Dwi Prasetyanto, 2021. "The Effects of On- and Before- Journey Advantages Using Ride-Sourcing in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, October.
    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. Wesley Darling & Jacquelyn Broader & Adam Cohen & Susan Shaheen, 2023. "Going My Way? Understanding Curb Management and Incentive Policies to Increase Pooling Service Use and Public Transit Linkages in the San Francisco Bay Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-20, September.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Du, Mingyang & Cheng, Lin & Li, Xuefeng & Liu, Qiyang & Yang, Jingzong, 2022. "Spatial variation of ridesplitting adoption rate in Chicago," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 13-37.
    12. 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.
    13. Henao, Alejandro & Marshall, Wesley E., 2019. "An analysis of the individual economics of ride-hailing drivers," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 440-451.
    14. Dean, Matthew D. & Kockelman, Kara M., 2021. "Spatial variation in shared ride-hail trip demand and factors contributing to sharing: Lessons from Chicago," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    15. Blumenberg, Evelyn & Paul, Julene & Pierce, Gregory, 2021. "Travel in the digital age: Vehicle ownership and technology-facilitated accessibility," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 86-94.
    16. Ghazaleh Azimi & Alireza Rahimi & Xia Jin, 2022. "Exploring the attitudes of Millennials and Generation Xers toward ridesourcing services," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1765-1799, December.
    17. 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.
    18. Lei Zhu & Zhouqiao Zhao & Guoyuan Wu, 2021. "Shared Automated Mobility with Demand-Side Cooperation: A Proof-of-Concept Microsimulation Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, February.
    19. 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).
    20. Nur Oktaviani Widiastuti & Muhammad Zudhy Irawan, 2024. "Ride-Hailing Preferences for First- and Last-Mile Connectivity at Intercity Transit Hubs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-20, April.

    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:transa:v:170:y:2023:i:c:s0965856423000599. 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: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    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.