Ride-hailing, a new mode to commute? Evidence from Tehran, Iran

• Published in: Travel, behaviour & society Vol. 22; pp. 175 - 185
• Main Authors: Lesteven, Gaele, Samadzad, Mahdi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Architecture, space management; Daily travel; Developing country; Geography; Humanities and Social Sciences; Ride-hailing; Survey analysis; Tehran; Travel behavior; Ride-hailing; Daily travel; Survey analysis; Travel behavior; Developing country; Tehran
• ISSN: 2214-367X; 2214-367X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tbs.2020.09.006

•Ride-hailing represents 5% of commute trips.•Frequency of use is strongly influenced by smartphone use and income level.•Students, workers in the formal sector and women are more likely to use ride-hailing.•People use ride-hailing because of its comfort and speed. In the last decade, ride-hailing services have spread all over the world. While these technology-enabled services account for a small part of the modal split in many Western cities, the situation is different in the developing world, where many people use ride-hailing on a daily basis. To better understand the role of ride-hailing in the mobility system and to confirm the hypothesis that ride-hailing is a new mode of commuting, we constructed, tested, and administered a questionnaire on travel behavior and ride-hailing practices in Tehran, Iran. 601 questionnaires were completed in February 2019. Descriptive analysis is combined with correlation tests and a frequency model. The findings show substantial adoption of ride-hailing in the population, used by people from all social backgrounds as it is the most versatile and flexible mode of transportation in the metropolitan area. While there is a high rate of adoption, frequency of use is mainly determined by smartphone use and income level. Ride-hailing presents the comfort and speed of the private car to those who can afford this new mode on a daily basis, especially for university students, workers in the formal sector and women. Local authorities might consider ride-hailing as an alternative to the private car, in complement to public and semi-public transportation systems.