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Estimating the effect of ride-hailing on public transportation

Project description

Do ride-hail apps complement or substitute the metro?

The road ahead for ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft is controversial in terms of regulations. Already operating in hundreds of cities worldwide, policymakers lack the necessary information about the overall impacts of ride hailing in order to properly regulate these businesses. Within this context, the EU-funded ride-hailing project will study the impact of ride hailing on public transportation. Specifically, the project will explore how the introduction of new metro train stops affects Uber ridership. This will shed light on how ride-hailing companies impact public transit ridership. One question the research team will explore, for instance, is whether Uber complements or substitutes public transportation.

Objective

Uber, Lyft, and other ride-hailing companies have transformed the transportation marketplace in over eight-hundred cities around the world. These firms' entry into cities has been controversial. They have been credited with providing a reliable and affordable transportation option, serving neglected areas of cities, and providing meaningful employment. Against these benefits, however, they have been accused of being unsafe, creating congestion, destroying stable jobs, and flouting the law. Governments have struggled to decide how to regulate these companies, in part because of a poor understanding of the actual impacts ride-hailing is having.

The proposed research program will increase our understanding of how ride-hailing is affecting cities. Specifically, the project will estimate how ride-hailing affects public transportation. Theoretically, this is unclear since while Uber is an alternative form of travel, it can also increase the reach and flexibility of public transportation. To measure the effect of UBer on transit, I will estimate how the introduction of new subway stops affects Uber ridership. This will shed light on whether Uber and public transportation are complements or substitutes. This project will use Uber's proprietary data. I have signed a Data USage Agreement with Uber allowing access to their data.

The project will be hosted by the department of Spatial Economics at VU Amsterdam, which arguably has the world's leading research group of transportation economists.

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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020

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Coordinator

STICHTING VU
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 93 786,24
Address
DE BOELELAAN 1105
1081 HV Amsterdam
Netherlands

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 93 786,24
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