IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i13p4666-d377726.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding the Competitive Advantages of Car Sharing from the Travel-Cost Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Xianlei Dong

    (School of Business, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China)

  • Yongfang Cai

    (School of Business, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China)

  • Jiaming Cheng

    (School of Business, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China)

  • Beibei Hu

    (School of Business, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China)

  • Huijun Sun

    (Key Laboratory of Transport Industry of Big Data Application Technologies for Comprehensive Transport, Ministry of Transport, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China)

Abstract

The emergence and development of car sharing can not only satisfy people’s diverse travel demands, but also can bring a new solution to facilitate urban low-carbon and green development. With the increasing acceptance of car sharing, the market competition between car sharing and traditional taxis is becoming increasingly fierce. Therefore, we explore the advantages of car sharing to travelers compared with taxis. In this paper, we first use the GPS (Global Positioning System) trajectory data of car sharing orders to construct a comparative advantage model based on travel-cost. Then, we take Beijing as the research area to explore the travel-cost advantages of car sharing in terms of the time and space dimensions compared with taxis, through calculating the travel-cost of car sharing and using simulation to calculate that of taxis. The results of the comparison between car sharing and taxis from the perspective of travel-cost are as follows: (1) Compared with short trips, the travel-cost advantage of car sharing is relatively higher in medium and long trips; for travelers, the taxi has a higher travel-cost advantage when the travel time is either very long or very short. (2) On weekdays, it is more cost-effective to travel by shared cars for travelers before the rush hours in the evening, and the travel-cost advantage of using taxis is greater after the evening peak. (3) Compared with weekdays, it is more cost-effective to travel by shared cars on weekends wherever travelers are living in the main urban areas or in the remote suburbs. It is suggested that relevant departments should understand the travelers’ preference and analyze the influence mechanism of other various factors on the market demand for car sharing as per the focus on the market on the travel-cost advantages of car sharing, so as to promote the healthy and sustainable development of urban shared transportation.

Suggested Citation

  • Xianlei Dong & Yongfang Cai & Jiaming Cheng & Beibei Hu & Huijun Sun, 2020. "Understanding the Competitive Advantages of Car Sharing from the Travel-Cost Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-30, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:13:p:4666-:d:377726
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/13/4666/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/13/4666/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Enoch, Marcus P. & Taylor, Jo, 2006. "A worldwide review of support mechanisms for car clubs," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 434-443, September.
    2. Firnkorn, Jörg & Müller, Martin, 2011. "What will be the environmental effects of new free-floating car-sharing systems? The case of car2go in Ulm," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(8), pages 1519-1528, June.
    3. Gambella, Claudio & Malaguti, Enrico & Masini, Filippo & Vigo, Daniele, 2018. "Optimizing relocation operations in electric car-sharing," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 234-245.
    4. Efthymiou, Dimitrios & Antoniou, Constantinos, 2016. "Modeling the propensity to join carsharing using hybrid choice models and mixed survey data," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 143-149.
    5. Justin van Dijk & Stephan Krygsman, 2018. "Analyzing Travel Behavior by Using GPS-Based Activity Spaces and Opportunity Indicators," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 105-124, April.
    6. Lawrence D. Burns, 2013. "A vision of our transport future," Nature, Nature, vol. 497(7448), pages 181-182, May.
    7. Martin, Elliot W & Shaheen, Susan A, 2011. "Greenhouse Gas Emission Impacts of Carsharing in North America," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt6wr90040, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    8. Fanchao Liao & Eric Molin & Harry Timmermans & Bert van Wee, 2020. "Carsharing: the impact of system characteristics on its potential to replace private car trips and reduce car ownership," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 935-970, April.
    9. Cervero, Robert, 2009. "TOD and Carsharing: A Natural Marriage," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt0g62069c, University of California Transportation Center.
    10. Shaheen, Susan PhD & Chan, Nelson, 2016. "Mobility and the Sharing Economy: Potential to Overcome First- and Last-Mile Public Transit Connections," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt8042k3d7, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    11. Belk, Russell, 2014. "You are what you can access: Sharing and collaborative consumption online," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1595-1600.
    12. Michael Duncan, 2011. "The cost saving potential of carsharing in a US context," Transportation, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 363-382, March.
    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. Xuanxuan Xia & Kexin Lin & Yang Ding & Xianlei Dong & Huijun Sun & Beibei Hu, 2020. "Research on the Coupling Coordination Relationships between Urban Function Mixing Degree and Urbanization Development Level Based on Information Entropy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Hu, Beibei & Sun, Yue & Li, Zixun & Zhang, Yanli & Sun, Huijun & Dong, Xianlei, 2024. "Competitive advantage of car-sharing based on travel costs comparison model: A case study of Beijing, China," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    3. Beibei Hu & Yue Sun & Huijun Sun & Xianlei Dong, 2020. "A Contrastive Study on Travel Costs of Car-Sharing and Taxis Based on GPS Trajectory Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-28, December.

    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. Rotaris, Lucia & Danielis, Romeo & Maltese, Ila, 2019. "Carsharing use by college students: The case of Milan and Rome," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 239-251.
    2. Repoux, Martin & Kaspi, Mor & Boyacı, Burak & Geroliminis, Nikolas, 2019. "Dynamic prediction-based relocation policies in one-way station-based carsharing systems with complete journey reservations," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 82-104.
    3. Aguilera-García, Álvaro & Gomez, Juan & Antoniou, Constantinos & Vassallo, José Manuel, 2022. "Behavioral factors impacting adoption and frequency of use of carsharing: A tale of two European cities," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 55-72.
    4. Zhou, Fan & Zheng, Zuduo & Whitehead, Jake & Washington, Simon & Perrons, Robert K. & Page, Lionel, 2020. "Preference heterogeneity in mode choice for car-sharing and shared automated vehicles," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 633-650.
    5. Cantelmo, Guido & Amini, Roja Ezzati & Monteiro, Mayara Moraes & Frenkel, Amnon & Lerner, Ofer & Tavory, Sharon Shoshany & Galtzur, Ayelet & Kamargianni, Maria & Shiftan, Yoram & Behrischi, Christiane, 2022. "Aligning users’ and stakeholders’ needs: How incentives can reshape the carsharing market," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 306-326.
    6. Fanchao Liao & Eric Molin & Harry Timmermans & Bert van Wee, 2020. "Carsharing: the impact of system characteristics on its potential to replace private car trips and reduce car ownership," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 935-970, April.
    7. Francesco Pasimeni, 2020. "The Origin of the Sharing Economy Meets the Legacy of Fractional Ownership," SPRU Working Paper Series 2020-19, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    8. Kent, Jennifer L. & Dowling, Robyn, 2013. "Puncturing automobility? Carsharing practices," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 86-92.
    9. Emmanuelle Reuter, 2022. "Hybrid business models in the sharing economy: The role of business model design for managing the environmental paradox," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 603-618, February.
    10. Golalikhani, Masoud & Oliveira, Beatriz Brito & Carravilla, Maria Antónia & Oliveira, José Fernando & Antunes, António Pais, 2021. "Carsharing: A review of academic literature and business practices toward an integrated decision-support framework," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    11. Qian Duan & Xin Ye & Jian Li & Ke Wang, 2020. "Empirical Modeling Analysis of Potential Commute Demand for Carsharing in Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    12. Susan Shaheen & Nelson Chan & Helen Micheaux, 2015. "One-way carsharing’s evolution and operator perspectives from the Americas," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 519-536, May.
    13. Matthew Clark & Kate Gifford & Jillian Anable & Scott Le Vine, 2015. "Business-to-business carsharing: evidence from Britain of factors associated with employer-based carsharing membership and its impacts," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 471-495, May.
    14. Meisam Ranjbari & Gustavo Morales-Alonso & Ruth Carrasco-Gallego, 2018. "Conceptualizing the Sharing Economy through Presenting a Comprehensive Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-24, July.
    15. Weibo Li & Maria Kamargianni, 2020. "Steering short-term demand for car-sharing: a mode choice and policy impact analysis by trip distance," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 2233-2265, October.
    16. Liu, Yunhan & Kim, Dohoon, 2018. "Why did Uber China fail in China? – Lessons from Business Model Analysis," 22nd ITS Biennial Conference, Seoul 2018. Beyond the boundaries: Challenges for business, policy and society 190408, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    17. Yun Wang & Xuedong Yan & Yu Zhou & Qingwan Xue & Li Sun, 2017. "Individuals’ Acceptance to Free-Floating Electric Carsharing Mode: A Web-Based Survey in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-24, May.
    18. Shaheen, Susan PhD & Cohen, Adam & Farrar, Emily, 2019. "Carsharing's Impact and Future," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt2f5896tp, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    19. Nadeem, Waqar & Al-Imamy, Saifeddin, 2020. "Do ethics drive value co-creation on digital sharing economy platforms?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    20. Riccardo Ceccato & Marco Diana, 2021. "Substitution and complementarity patterns between traditional transport means and car sharing: a person and trip level analysis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1523-1540, August.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:13:p:4666-:d:377726. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.