Exploring the influences of ride-hailing services on VMT and transit usage – Evidence from California.

With years in the market, ride-hailing services have generated broad impacts on almost every aspect of transportation, from the system level – such as congestion, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), transit ridership, etc. – to the household/individual level – such as vehicle ownership, mode choice, destination choice, etc. This study aims to explore the influences of ride-hailing services on VMT and transit usage at the household level by controlling for both socioeconomic and built environmental characteristics by using pre-COVID-19 data from California. While spatial distributions, descriptive statistics, and statistical tests reveal some connections between ride-hailing usage, household VMT generation, and transit usage, a few of these relationships lose statistical significance in multilevel two-stage regressions once the built environment where people reside is controlled for. The two remaining significant relationships include: 1) occasional ride-hailing usage (1–3 times per month) correlates with increased household VMT generation, and 2) frequent ride-hailing usage (4 or more times per month) is linked to a higher likelihood of utilizing any transit services. Together with previous literature, this study suggests that the associations between ride-hailing services and household VMT generation and transit usage may vary at the household level and depend on the frequency of usage, local contexts, household characteristics, etc., such as the built environment of where people live, employment status, household income, etc. Policymakers and planners should consider all factors to create efficient, sustainable and equitable transportation systems for all. • Influences of ride-hailing are less significant after controlling built environment. • Occasional ride-hailing usage is associated with higher VMT generation. • Frequent ride-hailing usage increases the probability of taking any transit. • Influences of ride-hailing services vary at the individual and local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]