EMAIL: lrglenn@thinkincstrategy.com

NEWS RELEASE

STUDY SEES OPPORTUNITIES TO MESH PUBLIC TRANSIT 

WITH APP-BASED, RIDE-HAILING SERVICES

Strategic Ties Could Help Support Public Transit, Increase Access

 to Affordable Transportation

CHICAGO -- Peak use of app-based, ride-hailing transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft come on weekends and evenings, not during rush hours when public-transit use is highest, according to a study by the Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC). SUMC's findings were based on one of the first uses of TNC origin-destination data provided by a major TNC. This finding was presented in TCRP Report 195, Broadening Understanding of the Interplay between Public Transit, Shared Mobility, and Personal Automobiles.

"Public transit is the backbone of any urban transportation system," said Sharon Feigon, SUMC's executive director. "Having this data and doing this study gave us a lot of new insights. In a congested environment, generally nothing is more efficient at moving lots of people than public transit. But we can see where TNCs fit into the gaps where the transit systems don't work as well. People want flexibility and frequency and services like Uber and Lyft are filling in the gaps. We want to create an ecosystem of choices to create a multimodal system that can work for all."

SUMC conducted the study for the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) a division of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The study synthesized origin-destination data for TNC trips for five US metro areas; a 10,000-person survey of transit and shared-mobility users conducted by SUMC; and rider surveys supplied by four large public transit agencies.

Other key findings included:

SUMC's researchers also found a correlation between frequent TNC usage and lower rates of car ownership among many of those surveyed. A small net attrition in vehicle ownership was found that outstripped any car purchases spurred by people aspiring to become drivers for ride-hailing services.  

"While we're still in the infancy of the changes that TNCs have unleashed, the data we analyzed suggest that transit remains resilient during times of day when it provides core services and moves the greatest number of people most efficiently," said Colin Murphy, director of research and consulting at SUMC. "Although we're seeing some reductions in total transit usage that are probably attributable to a shift to ride-hailing, use of TNCs still mostly takes place during off-peak hours. Rail and bus service remain central to the commutes of most urban dwellers who aren't driving alone, and TNCs don't appear to be changing that big picture in the cities we looked at."  

 

The study comes as researchers and policy analysts continue to assess the impacts of TNCs, which have reinvented transportation culture and prompted some conjecture that they could bode poorly for the fate of urban public transit systems. It also expands upon research SUMC conducted and TRB published in 2016 that found that TNC's have a complementary relationship to transit, attracting their highest volume of users during hours when urban bus and light rail service is most infrequent.  ( TCRP Report 188 , Shared Mobility and the Transformation of Public Transit.)

As cities and public transit administrators acclimate to the changing travel habits spurred by TNCs, the report's authors offered the following guidance, tailored to cities of different sizes:  

"While the evidence in this study suggests that the demand for peak-time transit capacity is stable, this is not cause for complacency," Feigon said.   "Transit systems will need to adapt and evolve along with TNCs, and look at what TNCs are doing right that makes them so attractive to customers."      

About

The Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC) is a public-interest organization working to foster collaboration in shared mobility (including bikesharing, carsharing, ridesharing and more) and help connect the growing industry with transit agencies, cities and communities across the nation. Through piloting programs, conducting new research and providing advice and expertise to cities and regions, SUMC hopes to extend the benefits of shared mobility for all. SUMC is focused on bringing together a wide range of interests -- including government, industry, non-governmental organizations, and academics -- to share best practices, conduct research, develop model policies and serve as a testing ground for building the shared-use mobility industry. http://sharedusemobilitycenter.org/

Executive Summary

Urban mobility is rapidly evolving in the United States, particularly since the introduction of app-based transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft. As these services become more widespread, many have begun to question what effect they are having on the cities where they operate, including on public transit ridership, single-occupancy vehicle trips and traffic congestion. In the face of widespread declines in public transit ridership after a decade or more of growth nationally, these questions have become especially pressing. Speculation has grown around whether TNCs are leading to real changes in how people use public transit and private automobiles, or if these fluctuations are caused by other factors.

This report -- an extension of TCRP Research Report 188, Shared Mobility and the Transformation of Public Transit (2016) -- attempts to address these questions by further exploring evidence of how TNCs are affecting the use of public transit and personal automobiles in several regions. 

The report's findings draw on several sources, including TNC trip origin-destination data for five regions provided by a major TNC and similar modeled information for the city of San Francisco provided by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA). These regions-Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, Seattle and Washington, DC-represent a variety of demographic, transportation, and land use characteristics. Additionally, the report references a survey of more than 10,000 transit and shared mobility users conducted by the researchers (referred to here as the Shared Mobility Survey), as well as rider surveys about TNC use administered by four large public transit agencies (the Four-Agency Survey) .

Key findings from this research include:

1. The heaviest TNC use across the regions in this study is during evening hours and weekends. Reaffirming the findings from TCRP 188, TNC trip data for the five regions, along with modeled data for the city of San Francisco, shows that the greatest levels of TNC use are on Friday and Saturday evenings. The busiest time in most cities is between 7pm and midnight. 

2. Most TNC trips in the study regions are short and concentrated in downtown core neighborhoods. Across the five regions represented in the TNC trip data, the mean TNC trip was between 2 and 4 miles. Many took place within a single zip code tabulation area. Peak-hour usage was concentrated primarily in urban cores, along relatively short, contiguous corridors between dense neighborhoods. The only notable exceptions were airports, which were the highest non-core areas of TNC activity in most of the study regions.

3. There is no clear relationship between the level of peak-hour TNC use and longer-term changes in the study regions' public transit usage. From 2010 to 2016 (a ccording to National Transit Database and TNC trip data), Seattle, San Francisco, and Nashville -- representing high, medium, and low peak-hour TNC usage, respectively -- all saw transit ridership increase. Meanwhile transit ridership in Chicago and Los Angeles (high and medium peak-hour TNC use, respectively) decreased, and Washington, DC's (high peak-hour TNC use) fell by the greatest percentage, according to National Transit Database reporting. The changes in transit ridership between 2010 and 2016 in these regions do not appear to be related to the regions' levels of peak-hour TNC usage. 

4. Among survey respondents, people who use transit or commute by driving solo do so as part of a routine; TNCs are used on a more occasional basis. Frequent TNC use (weekly or more often) is much less common than frequent transit use or frequent driving. This and other evidence from both the Shared Mobility Survey and the Four-Agency Survey suggests that for most users, TNCs are one part of a transportation menu, filling gaps or serving specific needs, but not providing the central mode for most users. 

5. Transit travel and wait times were top concerns of survey respondents who replaced transit trips with TNC trips. Faster travel and lower wait times were overwhelmingly cited by Four Agency Survey respondents as the top reasons for choosing a TNC over transit on the occasions when they did so. The proportions were higher among people who substituted TNCs for transit, ranging from 57-87%, compared to 40-61% for those who connected to transit. Reliability was also cited as a major concern for riders who substituted TNCs for transit trips in Washington, DC. Only among the heaviest users of TNCs was commuting a major reason for use; most TNC use took place for recreation.

6. TNC usage takes place in communities of all income levels. The TNC trip data shows that individual TNC trips were widespread across each of the study regions, suggesting that TNCs are used to some degree by people in communities across the socioeconomic spectrum. While urban core areas had the highest volume, TNC trips originated in nearly every zip code in the core counties of the study regions. 

7. TNC use is associated with decreases in respondents' vehicle ownership and single-occupancy vehicle trips. Among respondents to the Shared Mobility Survey, the combination of postponed purchase, deciding not to purchase, and selling a car without replacement outweighed the respondents in each region who acquired a car to become a TNC driver. Respondents also reported net decreases in solo driving. Frequent TNC users reported owning less than one car per household, in line with those of frequent transit users, and people who used a combination of transit and TNCs owned even fewer cars. Due to limitations of the data available to the researchers, TNCs' net impact on vehicle ownership and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are not addressed by this study. (See Section IV for more information.)

The report also provides a range of recommendations to help inform public transit agencies and other public entities in large, midsized and smaller urban areas in their attempts to engage with TNC services. These include:

Transit agencies of all sizes might consider exploring opportunities for fare integration, co-marketing and other strategies that encourage multimodal lifestyles. Additionally, local and state governments should be encouraged to create a predictable framework within which a variety of private providers can operate in the public interest. This includes policies that encourage and prioritize TNC trips that are concurrently shared by multiple riders, thus reducing possible congestion and VMT impacts from additional private vehicles on the street. TNCs can be good partners by providing data, promoting their services in a way that complements the efforts of transit agencies, and working together with cities on efforts to increase mobility, reduce traffic congestion, mitigate carbon emissions, and increase access to underserved communities. Business initiatives that demonstrably serve the public good should also be encouraged.

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