TRB Emerging Ridesharing Solutions Joint Sub-Committee By Paul Minett, Ed Beimborn, Jane Lappin, and Susan Shaheen Draft: Mission Statement and Research Topics Introduction The Texas Transportation Institute’s 2009 Urban Mobility Report found that more than 2.8 billion gallons of gasoline were wasted in congested traffic in 2007, with over 4 billion hours of travel delay. With driving-age population growing at 1% per year, and a base of 118 million private vehicles, over a million vehicles will be added to the traffic each year if mode mix remains constant. Most of the growth will occur on urban roads that are already congested and the amount of delay and energy waste will increase exponentially. At the same time there is a new industry developing, brought about because of the emergence of new technologies that could enable greater levels of ridesharing. When the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in San Francisco went out to the market recently they found that there are over eighty potential providers of online or real time ride-matching services. Add to this the interest at a ‘Real Time Ridesharing’ workshop at MIT in April 2009, which saw biometric “ride-sharer ID cards”, i-Phone Apps, new incentive systems, specialised ridesharing meeting places, and discussions from slugs to smart jitneys, and one can conclude that there is a lot happening in this space, trying to create a supply of alternatives to driving alone. On the other side, congestion pricing initiatives are relying on mode shift to enable mobility in the face of higher charges, creating potential demand for these alternatives. And a body of work is proceeding that considers how to charge ‘congesters’ and reward ‘de-congesters’ simultaneously and better understand the mechanisms by which pricing operates to change vehicle- and person-travel demand. Discussions at the 2009 TRB annual meeting and subsequent committee meetings suggested that there is sufficient interest and need to establish a sub-committee to focus on these new ridesharing systems. A Reinventing Carpooling Workshop was held at the 2010 annual meeting. At the workshop it was agreed that there is a pressing need to encourage research and bring focus onto the problem and the potential solutions. While the Travel Demand Management and Emerging and Innovative Public Transport and Technologies committees, as well as certain other TRB committees, may on occasion deal briefly with such issues, there is no committee within TRB that acts as a coordinator for all those with an interest in filling empty seats in private vehicles nor that has this as its central theme. There are other organisations (such as the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT) that have some focus on this topic, and it is important that duplication is minimized and collaboration facilitated where appropriate. Such collaboration would benefit TRB. Emerging Ridesharing Solutions Joint Sub-Committee Proposal Page 1 of 3 Sponsorship The Emerging and Innovative Public Transport and Technologies Committee (AP020) has expressed a desire to be the home (with joint co-sponsorship) of such a subcommittee. The Intelligent Transport Systems Committee (AHB15) and the Public Transportation Planning and Development Committee (AP025) and the Committee on Transportation Demand Management (ABE50) have expressed a desire to be joint co-sponsors along with AP020. The following committees also expressed support: Congestion Pricing (ABE25); Transportation Energy (ADC70); Commuter Rail (AP070); Transportation and Air Quality (ADC20). Several committees had a positive discussion about the proposed sub-committee and undertook to discuss it with their full committee in the near future: Transportation and Sustainability (ADD40); Paratransit (AP060); Transportation and Economic Development (ADD10); Traveller Behavior and Values (ADB10); High-Occupancy Vehicle, High-Occupancy Toll, and Managed Lanes (AHB35); Transportation Economics (ABE20); Urban Transportation Data and Information Systems (ABJ30); Major Activity Center Circulation Systems (AP040); Transportation and Land Development (ADD30); User Information Systems (AND20); Intermodal Transfer Facilities (AP045); Social and Economic Factors of Transportation (ADD20). The breadth of interest in the sub-committee and the strong attendance (50+) at the Reinventing Carpooling Workshop indicate that this is a cross cutting issue with broad appeal. Mission The mission of the new Emerging Ridesharing Solutions Sub-Committee is: “To promote, facilitate and disseminate research related to emerging solutions for increasing the average occupancy of private vehicles, particularly during peak hours when roadway and public transport capacity is fully utilised”. Activities · The organisation of paper and poster sessions at the annual and other meetings of TRB as appropriate. · The development of a research agenda and research proposals in the field of private vehicle occupancy. · Helping to facilitate research in the field: o To explore key social and technology questions o To assist formation of public policy · Disseminating the results of research in the field. · Gathering and disseminating best practises in the field. · Meeting specific requests from its joint sponsors for vehicle occupancy-related activities. Emerging Ridesharing Solutions Joint Sub-Committee Proposal Page 2 of 3 Research Topics · Carrots vs Sticks: can rewards for higher vehicle occupancy have the same impact as penalties for single occupancy if offered in cash at a tolling point? · Regional Ride-Matching Databases: Successes and greater successes. What impact do they have on the rate of ridesharing; what features set the more successful ones apart? · Dedicated carpool parking: What impact does it have on vehicle occupancy? · New technologies for tracking HOV-ness: do they really work; do people accept them? · Real-time ride matching: Will the cell-phone deliver a killer ridesharing app? · Real-time ride matching: What critical mass is needed and how will this be achieved? · Meeting places or databases: Can the Slug Lines be leveraged to raise average occupancy? · Flexible carpooling to transit stations: can carpooling be used to increase transit ridership? (This project is already underway funded by Transit IDEA project T-61.) · Incentives for carpooling: do vouchers work? · What are the barriers to greater ridesharing and is it just a price issue? (What price of gasoline will lead to a significant change in sharing behaviour?) · Segmenting commuters for their propensity to share rides: what are the behavioural considerations for increasing ridesharing? · The economics of ridesharing: what impact does increased ridesharing have on the life- expectancy of the vehicle fleet, and therefore the auto industry? What impact on the energy distribution industry? · The energy impacts of ridesharing: how much energy could be saved? · The carpooler’s view of changing HOV to HOT: is it discouraging? · Can an HOV2+ lane be full of HOV3 vehicles by paying incentives, and does this reduce the traffic? · Modal choice: how to make vehicle occupancy dynamic and responsive to changing traffic conditions · Congestion pricing: the mechanisms by which vehicle occupancy changes in response to pricing signals · Coordination with public transit - how can ride share systems be used to enhance and complement public transit services · Car sharing - How do car sharing systems increase the opportunity for ride sharing · User selectivity issues in ride sharing - What causes people to avoid or adopt ride sharing? How can ride sharing programs be operated to overcome resistance to sharing travel with strangers? · Market size issues - What is a reasonable description and size of market needed to have a successful ride share program? Emerging Ridesharing Solutions Joint Sub-Committee Proposal Page 3 of 3 .