3 Disruptive Mobility in Pre- and Post-COVID Times …
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are more than the benefits offered. For example, the municipal corporation of San
Francisco decided not to provide any preferential parking to the carsharing services
as it was speculated that they will substitute the public transit and bike rides and
induce more vehicle use causing environmental issues and loss to the public transit
providers.
3.1.2 Worldwide Scenario of Disruptive Mobility
The American Automobile Association reports that the average annual cost of owning
and maintaining a motorized four-wheeler to be $8,469 [12]. On the other hand, a
member of CityCarshare, a San Francisco based non-profit carshare organization,
only needs to pay annually $540 on an average [17]. Several studies showed that
these carsharing members either avoided or reduced car purchase. Studies confirm
that carsharing can remove 4.6 to 2 cars per shared vehicle [29] which creates a huge
benefit both financially for customers and environmentally in general.
It has been observed that ridesourcing has had a negative economic impact on
the taxi industry, given the fact that their market share is similar and the ease of
accessibility is better than the traditional taxis. Researchers have confirmed that
the growth of Uber is primarily due to the substitution of taxi trips. The price of
taxi medallion in New York reduced from $1,100,000 in 2013 to $600,000 in 2015
[21]. The entry of ridesharing companies in the market was cited as the cause for
this decrease [5]. Many factors collectively fall in favor of Uber, including lower
fares, wider service coverage, and lower wait times for the under-served areas and
population. For example, a study of New York revealed that Uber services provided
the minority and lower income neighborhoods with more transportation services and
choice. Also, in Chicago and New York, lesser complaints were received by the taxi
services after the introduction of Uber, since the market competition had increased
and the taxi service providers were compelled to perform better [42].
When looked at from the environmental perspective, there are studies having both
the positive and negative point of view. The University of California Transportation
Centre researchers concluded in their study that Ridesourcing users tend to own lesser
vehicles which leads to lesser Vehicle Kilometer Travelled (VKT). Though 90%
of vehicle-owning survey respondents said they did not change vehicle ownership
even after using Uber, 40% of them reported that they drive lesser than earlier. One
drawback of TNCs is that cab drivers often deadhead (operating the vehicle without
any passenger) either to match passengers or to seek passengers in high-demand
areas, which results in higher VKT and increased congestion [25].
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are more than the benefits offered. For example, the municipal corporation of San
Francisco decided not to provide any preferential parking to the carsharing services
as it was speculated that they will substitute the public transit and bike rides and
induce more vehicle use causing environmental issues and loss to the public transit
providers.
3.1.2 Worldwide Scenario of Disruptive Mobility
The American Automobile Association reports that the average annual cost of owning
and maintaining a motorized four-wheeler to be $8,469 [12]. On the other hand, a
member of CityCarshare, a San Francisco based non-profit carshare organization,
only needs to pay annually $540 on an average [17]. Several studies showed that
these carsharing members either avoided or reduced car purchase. Studies confirm
that carsharing can remove 4.6 to 2 cars per shared vehicle [29] which creates a huge
benefit both financially for customers and environmentally in general.
It has been observed that ridesourcing has had a negative economic impact on
the taxi industry, given the fact that their market share is similar and the ease of
accessibility is better than the traditional taxis. Researchers have confirmed that
the growth of Uber is primarily due to the substitution of taxi trips. The price of
taxi medallion in New York reduced from $1,100,000 in 2013 to $600,000 in 2015
[21]. The entry of ridesharing companies in the market was cited as the cause for
this decrease [5]. Many factors collectively fall in favor of Uber, including lower
fares, wider service coverage, and lower wait times for the under-served areas and
population. For example, a study of New York revealed that Uber services provided
the minority and lower income neighborhoods with more transportation services and
choice. Also, in Chicago and New York, lesser complaints were received by the taxi
services after the introduction of Uber, since the market competition had increased
and the taxi service providers were compelled to perform better [42].
When looked at from the environmental perspective, there are studies having both
the positive and negative point of view. The University of California Transportation
Centre researchers concluded in their study that Ridesourcing users tend to own lesser
vehicles which leads to lesser Vehicle Kilometer Travelled (VKT). Though 90%
of vehicle-owning survey respondents said they did not change vehicle ownership
even after using Uber, 40% of them reported that they drive lesser than earlier. One
drawback of TNCs is that cab drivers often deadhead (operating the vehicle without
any passenger) either to match passengers or to seek passengers in high-demand
areas, which results in higher VKT and increased congestion [25].