Buying Access One Trip at a Time

Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings

New transportation options like ride-hail can expand accessibility without the costs of car ownership. Ride-hail’s potential is particularly salient for lower-income and zero-car households. We used interviews and a national (U.S.) survey to examine how and why lower-income travelers in the United States use ride-hail. Survey and interview responses provided a temporal snapshot and thus reflect, in part, travel challenges specific to COVID-19. Findings suggest that lower-income travelers, particularly those without personal cars, use ride-hail in ways distinct from those typically reported in broader travel surveys. Individuals without cars are more likely to use ride-hail, and use it more often, compared with people with cars, particularly to fill spatial and temporal gaps in public transit service and to access medical care and groceries. Costs and price unpredictability remain significant barriers limiting travelers’ use of ride-hail services.

Takeaway for practice

This research demonstrates a latent need for car access among lower-income travelers. Substantial gaps in alternative modes pose challenges for travelers seeking reliable and timely transportation. Planners should invest in transit, biking, and walking to provide robust alternatives to car ownership. Such investments, however, take time. In the meantime, cities and agencies should consider subsidizing ride-hail trips to bridge existing gaps in the transportation network.

Keywords:

• car access
• low-income travel
• ride-hail
• transportation network company

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Marty Schwartz, president of Vehicles for Change, for advice, guidance, and help with recruiting interviewees. The following organizations helped recruit participants: City of Baltimore Mayor's Office of Employment Development, Baltimore County Department of Economic and Workforce Development, and Humanim. We thank Brendan Irsfeld, Kara Guse, Iliana Lang Lundgren, and Sang-O Kim for their contributions to this project.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

The authors report no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests.

RESEARCH SUPPORT

The National Science Foundation funded this research through the grant “SCC-CIVIC-PG Track A: Community Based Ride-Hail Pilot: One Car, Multiple Opportunities” (no. 2044095).

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Survey data and code for this project are available online here (https://osf.io/269rh/).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2022.2027262.

Notes

1 Four of our 29 respondents lived in households earning between $50,000 and $74,999 per year. We opted to retain these respondents because they had lived experiences that closely echoed those of respondents earning less than $50,000 per year.

2 Users were asked to respond on a 5-point Likert scale (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree) to the statement “I can walk to stores, restaurants, and other destinations to meet my daily needs.” We categorized travelers who agreed or strongly agreed with the statement as living in walkable neighborhoods.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anne Brown

ANNE BROWN ([email protected]) is an assistant professor in the School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management at the University of Oregon.

Nicholas J. Klein

NICHOLAS J. KLEIN ([email protected]) is an assistant professor in the College of Architecture and Art at Cornell University.

Michael J. Smart

MICHAEL J. SMART ([email protected]) is an associate professor in the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Amanda Howell

AMANDA HOWELL ([email protected]) is a researcher at the Urbanism Next Center at the University of Oregon.