Travel behavior

The impacts of ride-hailing services on the transportation system have been immediate and major. Yet, public agencies are only beginning to understand their magnitude because the private ride-hailing industry has provided limited amounts of meaningful data. Consequently, public agencies responsible for managing congestion and providing transit services are unable to clearly determine who uses ride-hailing services and how their adoption influences established travel modes, or forecast the potential growth of this emergent mode in the future. To address these pressing questions, an intercept survey of ride-hailing passengers was conducted in the Greater Boston region in fall 2017. The responses, which enabled a robust description of ride-hailing passengers for the region, were used to analyze how new on-demand mobility services such as Uber and Lyft may be substituting travel by other modes.

On-demand ridesourcing services from transportation network companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft, have reshaped urban travel and changed externality costs from vehicle emissions, congestion, crashes, and noise. To quantify these changes, we simulate replacing private vehicle travel with TNCs in six U.S. cities.

This report builds on an on-going research effort that investigates emerging mobility patterns and the adoption of new mobility services. In this report, the authors focus on the environmental impacts of various modality styles and the frequency of ridehailing use among a sample of millennials (i.e., born from 1981 to 1997) and members of the preceding Generation X (i.e., born from 1965 to 1980). The total sample for the analysis included in this report includes 1,785 individuals who participated in a survey administered in Fall 2015 in California. In this study, the researchers focus on the vehicle miles traveled, the energy consumption, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for transportation purposes of various groups of travelers. 

Transportation network companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft, have been hypothesized to both complement and compete with public transit. Existing research on the topic is limited by a lack of detailed data on the timing and location of TNC trips. This study overcomes that limitation by using data scraped from the Application Programming Interfaces of two TNCs, combined with Automated Passenger Count data on transit use and other supporting data. Using a panel data model of the change in bus ridership in San Francisco between 2010 and 2015, and confirming the result with a separate time-series model, we find that TNCs are responsible for a net ridership decline of about 10%, offsetting net gains from other factors such as service increases and population growth. We do not find a statistically significant effect on light rail ridership. Cities and transit agencies should recognize the transit-competitive nature of TNCs as they plan, regulate and operate their transportation systems.

Ride-hailing such as Uber and Lyft are changing the ways people travel. Despite widespread claims that these services help reduce driving, there is little research on this topic. This research paper uses a quasi-natural experiment in the Denver, Colorado, region to analyze basic impacts of ride-hailing on transportation efficiency in terms of deadheading, vehicle occupancy, mode replacement, and vehicle miles traveled (VMT).

In 2020, the microtransit company. “Via” partnered with Jersey City to provide on-demand car rides to underserved communities whose mass public transit routes had been canceled due to low ridership during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. The company aims to complement existing transit which operates comprehensively and frequently in the central areas of Jersey City. Via offers rides outside of this well-served district but not within to minimize competition with public transit. The same company launched in Arlington, Texas in 2017. Arlington, which was the largest city in America without a public transit system, opted to contract Via to provide an alternative transportation mode to driving in a personal vehicle. The on-demand service offers point-to-point rides within Arlington and connections to intercity train stations to Dallas-Fort Worth.

Many cities are rolling out bike share programs. However, few studies have evaluated how bike share systems (BSS) are used to quantify their sustainability impacts. This study proposes a Bike Share Emission Reduction Estimation Model (BS-EREM) to quantify the environmental benefits from bike share trips and compare the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions from BSS in eight cities in the United States, including New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. The BS-EREM model stochastically estimates the transportation modes substituted by bike share trips, considering factors such as trip distance, trip purpose, trip start time, the accessibility of public transits, and historical distributions of transportation mode choices.

On-demand ridesourcing services from transportation network companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft, have reshaped urban travel and changed externality costs from vehicle emissions, congestion, crashes, and noise. To quantify these changes, this study simulated replacing private vehicle travel with TNCs in six U.S. cities.

This study analyzes the relation between shared mobility services and greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions by using a nationally representative sample of US young adults. We conduct a comprehensive analysis based on the data collected in the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS).

Many studies have noted that denser and more accessible environments with higher level-of-service (LOS) tend to encourage higher levels of walking and bicycling activity. As streets are increasingly designed to facilitate safe cycling through built environment interventions, little has been done to evaluate perceptions of safety on different typologies, particularly one vs. two-way corridors. Theory would suggest that many individuals frame their commutes based in-part on the perceived safety of the environment, yet little research looks at varying street design and this perception. This study uses a moving camera approach to evaluate the perceived cycling comfort for drivers and cyclists on different roadway designs (multi-lane, one way; two-way, bidirectional street; single-lane, one-way).

This study aims to quantitatively estimate the environmental benefits of bike sharing. Using big data techniques, we estimate the impacts of bike sharing on energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions in Shanghai from a spatiotemporal perspective.

Urbano has been developed by Cornell University and other organizations. This software has some special features like download geospatial data, import and aggregate data, lookup and modify metadata, routing in different modes, analyze amenities and streets, integrated cad workflow, etc. Also, is useful to quantify urban parameters like amenity demand, streetscore, amenityscore and walkscore. It has a friendly interface to visualize different urban planning parameters.

Make pedestrian ways, particularly sidewalks, first class members of an open data transportation network. The OpenStreetMap (OSM) project has made available extensive, user-contributed open data on transportation networks, providing the basis for many use cases and downstream activities, including rich analytics, travel route optimization, city planning, and disaster relief. Sidewalks in the built environment have generally been treated an addendum to streets, failing to serve people with limited mobility.

"In this paper we put together a list of the basic instincts that drive and contain travelers' behavior, showing how they mesh with technological progress and economic constraints."

"This paper will address current progress and direction for autonomous vehicles, what this could mean for the future of transport and the possible analytical approaches to addressing these impacts."

This article details a study done in the neighborhood of Rosslyn in Arlington, Virginia to understand the relationship between e-scooter riders and non-riders in terms of e-scooter parking and pedestrian safety.

"The City of Santa Monica designed a pilot program to test shared electric scooters and bikes operated by private companies, using a flexible approach that could be responsive to community needs, technological advancements, and a nascent and evolving industry."

This zoning amendment aims to prepare the City of Chandler, Arizona for changes in land use as a result of changes in transportation behavior resulting from an increase in ride sharing and autonomous vehicles.

This report examines how TNCs contributed to increased roadway congestion in San Francisco between 2010 and 2016 relative to other factors such as population and employment growth, and transportation system changes.

This article intends to inform policymakers of the potential effects of autonomous vehicles on road traffic congestion.

This paper explores the impacts of AVs on car trips using a case study of Victoria, Australia, specifically studying the potential increase in new trips and trip diversions from other modes such as public transport.

This paper examines the relationship between ride-hailing and parking demand by looking at ride-hailing trips that otherwise would have needed parking.

"NACTO research in seven cities shows that pairing bike share with protected bike lanes encourages riding, increases the visibility of people on bikes, and reduces overall biking risk."

This survey provides an inventory of daily travel in the US including demographic data on households, people, vehicles, and detailed information on daily travel by all modes of transportation and for all purposes.

This report explores how smart mobility technologies can address the current and future needs of transportation disadvantaged communities. It looks at the barriers different communities experience regarding access to smart mobility technologies, and potential solutions to overcoming these barriers.

Transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft came onto the market with the mission to reduce congestion in cities, however data from major cities around the U.S. shows that they may be having the opposite impact on congestion and public transportation.

The introduction of shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) in cities could potentially increase the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The implementation of dynamic ride-sharing (DRS) systems could limit this increase and potentially result in a net reduction in VMT.

Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft are changing the way that people move around cities, affecting transit use, active transportation and congestion. Due to the rapid rise in popularity and lack of available data, city and transportation planners have been limited in their ability to make long-term decisions about transportation infrastructure.

Ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft are reducing the need for parking, which negatively affects parking companies but is otherwise beneficial for cities.

This study examines the impacts of transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft on trends in travel, parking, car-rental and the economy by analyzing the effects of ride-hailing at four major airports in the U.S.

This report studies curb use at five typical locations in Greater Downtown Seattle to understand how cities can effectively manage curb access.

This paper seeks to understand the potential causes of a decline in transit ridership by examining data from seven major U.S. cities – Boston, New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angles.

This report explores peer-to-peer carsharing, its impacts on travel behavior, and how it can be incorporated with other shared mobility services.

This resource discusses the history of carsharing and how it is evolving to meet current transportation needs.

This presentation outlines the ways automation will "change the daily travel decisions of individuals and alter overall vehicle miles traveled and energy use."

RideorDrive.org is meant to inform consumers about whether they should purchase a vehicle or switch entirely to using ridesharing services in the future.

This article examines the potential effects of driving on health and well-being.

A survey of adults in the U.S. found that there are generational differences in travel preferences.

This resource studies whether mobility as a service (MaaS) can be used to promote shared modes. Initial results from surveys showed that MaaS bundles can be used as a tool to introduce more travelers to shared modes.

Despite a growing economy, there has been a decrease in the average miles driven due in part to alternate modes of transportation and more opportunities to work and shop remotely.

The town of Innisfil in Ontario, Canada has partnered with Uber in place of public transit. Low density development drove the town to choose subsidizing Uber over creating a public transit system due to the perceived cost of both. However, the amount Innisfil spent subsidizing Uber rides has already exceeded the amount they estimated it would cost to create a public transit system. Experts question the partnership, citing environmental and economic problems.

Statistica published the daily ridership of ride-hailing operators worldwide. The results are shown in a graph, visually comparing the ridership of Didi, Uber, Grab, and Lyft.

This article breaks down the varying types of ride sharing services in China and details their differing business models and levels of success.

This article examines bicyclists’ travel behavior for transportation and for recreational purposes based on preferences, physical and social environmental factors, and perceived safety.

Following Uber and Lyft leaving Austin, Texas, drivers and riders have taken to alternative methods to create ride-hailing services. Extents of this effort range from Facebook groups to a newly developed app, Arcade City. As of 2016, Arcade City was not registered with the city, and it lets drivers and riders determine their own level of comfortability with riding conditions.

Automation of personal and transit vehicles will change the vehicles themselves, but also the right-of-way that governs their use. These changes bring an opportunity to improve transit systems. High capacity transit must become a more attractive mode of transit in order to remain competitive with personal and shared vehicles.

According to the U.S. Census, the average American spends about 26 minutes commuting each direction to work.

This report examines several scenarios of connected and automated vehicle (CAV) adoption rates and studies their potential impacts on fuel efficiency and consumer costs. The results found massive uncertainties in potential long-term energy impacts from fully automated and highly connected vehicles in the high adoption rate scenario and similar uncertainties in the other scenarios. The authors outline the gaps in existing research and suggest routes for further research in order of importance.

The growth of ride-hailing services has led to more traffic and less transit use in the United States, contrary to predictions that suggested the opposite would happen when transportation network companies first started becoming popular. Some data shows that household vehicle ownership increased in cities where Uber and Lyft are most heavily used, while there is also a growing number of urban households that own zero or few cars. The article analyzes this data to determine whether Americans own fewer cars, and discusses how vehicle ownership relates to population growth in several cities.

This article discusses an experiment conducted to investigate the factors contributing to travel mode choice. The experiment found that subjects were more inclined to chose cars over other forms of transportation, even when another form of transportation might have been more ideal based on cost or travel time. This demonstrates the concept of car stickiness, where travelers are heavily biased towards traveling in cars over other forms of transportation.

“This research examines office parking at a series of case study sites in suburban Southern California, identifying its impact on travel behavior, development density, development cost, and urban design.”

Despite national averages of shrinking transit ridership, seven United States cities have seen increased ridership. These cities have seen growth because of their efforts to improve or expand their bus services.

Shared micromobility, which includes shared bikes, e-bikes and scooters, is becoming more popular in the US.

This paper surveys emerging mobility services in order to highlight the key points of the concept of “mobility as a service” and to develop an index that evaluates the level of mobility integration of each service.

This article studies how emerging “smart mobility” systems will affect equity issues in Portland, Oregon. It suggests that affordable and improved public transit, ridesharing and active transportation could address many transportation challenges.

“Fehr & Peers was engaged by Lyft and Uber to determine their combined Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) in six metropolitan regions in September 2018 and compare that value to approximate total VMT in each area for the same period.”

This is a survey of 3,000 adults in the top 50 metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. about the quality of life in their communities.

Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft are changing how travelers get to the airport. This trend is negatively affecting airports, which depend on parking, rental car, and taxi fees as a primary source of revenue.

As people are relying more on ride-hailing services instead of driving themselves, cities are seeing a reduction in parking demand.

“Taking Uber or Lyft to and from work and to run errands might seem more expensive than driving yourself–but in many cases, relying on a ride-hailing service is cheaper than buying and using a car of your own. A new calculator compares both scenarios, and might help you decide to ditch car ownership entirely.”

The NUMO New Mobility Atlas is an extensive, data-driven platform mapping the rapid proliferation of new mobility, including micromobility, in cities around the world. Developed in partnership with partner organizations from the public and private sectors, the Atlas uses open data to track which shared transportation options — currently dockless scooters, bicycles and mopeds — are available in cities.

This is a fact sheet suitable for use as a printed handout on Urbanism Next's topline research findings regarding micromobility.

This is a fact sheet suitable for use as a printed handout on Urbanism Next's topline research findings regarding TNCs.

Sustainable, inclusive, prosperous, and resilient cities depend on transportation that facilitates the safe, efficient, and pollution-free flow of people and goods, while also providing affordable, healthy, and integrated mobility for all people. The pace of technology-driven innovation from the private sector in shared transportation services, vehicles, and networks is rapid, accelerating, and filled with opportunity. At the same time, city streets are a finite and scarce resource.These principles, produced by a working group of international NGOs, are designed to guide urban decision-makers and stakeholders toward the best outcomes for all.

The purpose of this report is to analyze potential impacts and offer recommendations for the cities of Gresham and Eugene, OR, to understand the potential impacts of new mobility technologies – with an emphasis on autonomous vehicles (AVs) – and prepare a policy and programmatic response. While Gresham and Eugene are case studies, it provides mid-sized communities information on how new mobility services could impact their communities and what they can do about it, from broad strategies to specific policy responses. While this work focuses on the various new mobility and goods delivery services that currently exist, the framework that is discussed here is also applicable to emerging technologies that haven’t yet been introduced, such as autonomous vehicles (AVs).

The University of Oregon conducted research for the cities of Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver to understand how the deployment of autonomous vehicles may impact greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Based on the range of possible outcomes, the cities hope to better understand the policies and programmatic choices available to mitigate negative impacts of AVs and ensure that they can accomplish the goals stated in their climate action, land use, and transportation plans. By working together, each city hopes to learn from each other—as well as cities from across North America—to achieve their climate-related goals.

This purpose of this report is to help the cities of Gresham, Oregon and Eugene, Oregon understand the potential impacts of new mobility technologies – with an emphasis on autonomous vehicles (AVs) – and prepare a policy response. While Gresham and Eugene are case studies, it provides communities of all sizes information on how new mobility services could impact their communities and what they can do about it, from broad strategies to specific policy responses. While this work focuses on the various new mobility and goods delivery services that currently exist, the framework that is discussed here is also applicable to emerging technologies that haven’t yet been introduced, such as AVs.

The purpose of the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide (part of the Cities for Cycling initiative) is to provide cities with state-of-the-practice solutions that can help create complete streets that are safe and enjoyable for bicyclists.

The Transit Street Design Guide provides design guidance for the development of transit facilities on city streets, and for the design and engineering of city streets to prioritize transit, improve transit service quality, and support other goals related to transit.

Provides a real time transit visualization and analytics interface.

Provides a platform to design and manage your city's transportation future, specifically bus and micromobility services.

An open source, C++ routing tool oriented more toward developers.

Mapbox is the location data platform for mobile and web applications. they provide building blocks to add location features like maps, search, and navigation into any experience you create.

Policy Guidebook for urban transportation and land use decision makers.

This scorecard shows the criteria and point values that make up the BRT Standard, including a description of each category.

List of case studies to empower behavioral change towards sustainable transport options.

Bicycle and pedestrian counting technical equipment and consulting services.

Citilabs offers a number of analytical and visualization products to aid in modeling population movement, scenario planning, and transit operations.

Guidelines for cities to implement sustainable and environmental mobility strategies for people and goods.

BikeAble can use mapping technology to model the low-stress bike route options available from any origin to any destination. Doing this for a large number of origins and destinations allows us to aggregate the results to show not just how connected one household is to key destinations, but how well connected an entire community is.

Open-source library of tools for working with transit data.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) report provides a preliminary analysis of an E-Scooter Pilot Program conducted in Portland, Oregon, from July 2018 through November of the same year. The report includes ridership data, public perception and concerns, areas for improvement, and proposed next steps for implementing e-scooters in Portland.

In order to ease congestion downtown and relieve pressure on parking during the holiday season, the city of Boulder, Colorado engaged in a partnership with Lyft, Uber, and a taxi company zTrip. The pilot project, which ran for 11 weeks, involved the city subsidizing rides for residents of Boulder who travelled downtown using one of the partnership companies. This report presents the motivation, design, operation, and results of the pilot.

The Go Centennial pilot was the first pilot project in the country where a government or transit agency fully subsidized first and last-mile rides provided by a transportation network company (in this case Lyft). The Go Centennial pilot was launched in Centennial, Colorado on August 2016 and ran for six months until February 2017. This final report is one of the most comprehensive evaluations of a TNC partnership pilot, and details the goals, preexisting conditions, and procurement and design of the pilot. The report concludes with a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the pilot and a set of lessons learned and key takeaways.

BMW’s car-sharing service abruptly ceased operation Wednesday, ending a mobility program that included 1,000 free-floating vehicles used by more than 100,000 members across Seattle and Portland.

Motion sickness is a serious consideration on any car trip where you’re not driving. So what are we supposed to do in self-driving vehicles? Researchers are finally looking into this question with an experiment designed to see just what makes people like us so sick.

Riggs, Boswell and Ross describe their pilot street design project deploying Streetplan, a version of the opensource tool Streetmix. As part of the City of San Luis Obispo downtown revisioning project, their efforts inform the process, currently underway, of revising the Downtown Vision Concept Plan.

The New Mobility Playbook is a set of plays, policies, and strategies that will position Seattle to foster new mobility options while prioritizing safety, equity, affordability, and sustainability in the transportation system.

This report was developed to inform a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) workshop, held in September 2015, exploring emerging technological trends in transportation. This paper provides an overview of select developing transportation technologies and includes a discussion of the policy implications of these new technological trends.

This paper, for the first time, presents comparable projections of travel behavior impacts of the introduction of autonomous vehicles (AVs) into the private car fleet for two countries, namely the USA and Germany. The focus is on fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) which allow drivers to engage in other activities en route. Two 2035 scenarios – a trend scenario and an extreme scenario – are presented for both study countries. For these projections, we combine a vehicle technology diffusion model and an aspatial travel demand model. Factors that influence AV impact in the behavioral model are mainly new automobile user groups, e.g. travelers with mobility impairments, and altered generalized costs of travel, e.g. due to a lower value of travel time savings for car travel. The results indicate that AV penetrations rates might be higher in Germany (10% or 38% respectively) than in the USA (8% or 29% respectively) due to a higher share of luxury cars and quicker fleet turnover. On the contrary, the increase of vehicle mileage induced by AVs is not higher in Germany (+2.4% or +8.6% respectively) than in the USA (+3.4% or +8.6% respectively). This is mainly due to the lack of mode alternatives and lower fuel costs resulting in a higher share of travel times among the total generalized costs of travel in the USA. These results clearly indicate that context factors shaped by national policy will influence AV adoption and impact on travel demand changes. Based on these results the paper draws policy recommendations which will help to harness the advantages of AVs while avoiding their negative consequences.

This white paper discusses the forces affecting U.S. passenger travel, the permanence of which is often unclear. We explore travel demand’s relationship with explanatory factors such as economic activity, gas prices, urban form, socio-demographic traits and generational effects, the expanding availability of travel options (including electronic alternatives to travel) and technological innovations in the transportation sector (including the advent of emerging transportation and shared mobility services). We discuss how these factors modify the alternatives available to travelers, the characteristics of each alternative, and the way travelers perceive and evaluate these characteristics.

The Transportation Authority’s “Emerging Mobility Evaluation Report” provides the first comprehensive look at the rapidly evolving emerging mobility sector in San Francisco. The report outlines the range of services operating in San Francisco, covering everything from ride-hail services to autonomous vehicles and microtransit to scooter sharing. In the report, the Transportation Authority evaluates how these services and technologies align with the city’s 10 Guiding Principles related to collaboration, safety, transit, congestion, sustainability, equitable access, accountability, labor, disabled access, and financial impact.

"Connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies have the potential to change transportation on a global scale. These technologies could improve safety, significantly alter transportation costs, and change traffic patterns and congestion." This time is now to begin having these conversations about how CAVs may integrate into our cities and the impact they could have on land use.

Although recent studies of Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs) have explored the economic costs and environmental impacts of this technology, little is known about how SAVs can change urban forms, especially by reducing the demand for parking. This study estimates the potential impact of SAV system on urban parking demand under different system operation scenarios with the help of an agent-based simulation model. The simulation results indicate that we may be able to eliminate up to 90% of parking demand for clients who adopt the system, at a low market penetration rate of 2%. The results also suggest that different SAV operation strategies and client's preferences may lead to different spatial distribution of urban parking demand.

One of the public policy goals for livable and sustainable communities is to minimize the use of automobiles. This paper focuses on introducing and justifying an important new policy principle. Even when car travel is minimized with smart growth land development policies, transportation demand management, and increased public transit, a significant level of automobile use will remain. As a result, reducing the environmental, economic and safety impacts of those remaining automobiles should be an essential element of a livable, sustainable community. Fortunately, fundamental and disruptive technological advances in new vehicles—automation, connectivity, and electrification as described in this paper are fast emerging to make this new priority feasible.

The "what ifs" are endless at this point. This article leaves us with only the tip of the iceberg of answers that could lead to what will happen as we are faced with major changes in transportation.

"This paper builds on the growing scholarship on neighbourhood-level GHG production by combining emissions calculations from embodied energy, building-operating energy, and transportation energy, examining four variations of residential density."

This article examines what's driving interest and experimentation in MaaS in cities around the world, outlines the core elements of MaaS and how this concept could evolve, and describes the role of government and the private sector in realizing the benefits MaaS brings.

"Mobility Plan 2035 (Plan) provides the policy foundation for achieving a transportation system that balances the needs of all road users. As an update to the City’s General Plan Transportation Element (last adopted in 1999), Mobility Plan 2035 incorporates “complete streets” principles and lays the policy foundation for how future generations of Angelenos interact with their streets."

This report, BCG's latest on autonomous vehicles, examines the case for AVs as a cornerstone of the urban mobility revolution, as seen through experience of Boston. It describes transportation challenges, strategic considerations, scenario modeling and simulations, field testing. We hope that leaders in the public and private sectors who are considering nuw urban mobiliy models will benefit from these reflections and recommendations on Boston's experience thus far.