College students’ use of transportation networking companies: An opportunity to decrease substance-impaired driving

Abstract

Objective: To examine the use of transportation networking companies (TNCs) (eg, Uber) among substance-using students in rural and urban college settings. Participants: Students at two large state universities were randomly selected and screened for substance use. Participants reported use of TNCs generally and after substance use and whether TNC use was on or near campus or in other environments. Methods: Data were evaluated using chi-square test, t-tests, and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: Most (85%) participants (n = 99, 61% response rate) had used a TNC. Among students who used TNCs on/near campus, 98% of rural students used them after substance use compared to 85% of urban students (p = .037). We did not detect differences in TNC use by gender or age. Conclusions: Results indicate that TNC use is common after college student substance use and may play a particularly important role in preventing impaired driving for rural campuses where existing transportation options are limited.

Keywords:

• Substance-impaired driving
• mobile applications
• college students

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Megan Pumper and Tyler Jette for their assistance on this project.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest or financial disclosures.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award number R21DA035903. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.