Ride sharing has boomed in recent years, creating a huge shift in how we get about.  Has the rise of companies like Uber meant that more of us are taking journeys now, or are we substituting journeys we would ordinarily have taken via other means via ride sharing instead?  That was the question posed by a recent study from the MIT JTL Urban Mobility Lab, which focused specifically on whether ride sharing was impacting demand for public transport.

The researchers used ride sharing data from Chengdu, China to try and explore whether ride sharing compliments or substitutes for public transport.  They analyzed data from the DiDi platform in Chengdu, which is a population center of over 16 million people to create a three-level structure to explore this relationship.

Substitutions

The analysis revealed that around one third of all trips on DiDi were potential substitutes for trips made via public transport.  This substitution appeared to be influenced by both the time and location of the trip, with the substitution rate higher during the day time and in the city center.  It also appeared as though substitution trips were higher in highly built up areas with a strong land use mixture.  This meant that during this timeframe, around 40% of trips made on DiDi could have been made on public transport.

This substitution was also common in parts of the city that are well covered by metro lines, with the reverse the case in suburban areas that are less well covered by public transport.  Interestingly, however, there also appeared to be a strong correlation between the substitution rate and house prices, which the researchers believe highlights the important role public transport plays in helping less wealthy populations.

“High substitution rate implies the necessity of implementing ridesourcing regulations (e.g. spatial quotas, strategic pricing) or optimizing public transit service (e.g. shorten travel time, lower fee, improve crowdedness) in that area,” the researchers say. “The lower substitution in suburban areas can highlight areas where the current public transit service is inadequate and would help regulators decide on where to implement new bus or train lines.”

The analysis underlines the impact ride sharing services have on public transport, but also on its potential to amplify the digital divide, especially in poorer countries where smartphones are not so prevalent.