Abstract:
Municipal transit agencies are exploring integrations with ridesourcing vehicles to extend the reach of their fixed-route transit networks. Ridesourcing integrations have been piloted in some regions, but these pilots tend not to be externally evaluated because of an inability to access the trip data. The primary objective of this research was to determine the types of trips passengers are taking through a transit-integrated ridesourcing pilot, and their competitiveness with transit and walking alternatives. The analysis focused on the 903 Flex pilot operated by the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. A set of 585 completed ridesourcing trips (rides) were studied and compared with the alternative transit and walking trips. Each ride was assigned a type, based on its proximity to transit and walking alternatives, for calculation and comparison of trip attributes. Terminology for types of rides is introduced and the categorization process applied to the ridesourcing pilot. Trip categories include: feeders, transit replacements, inconvenient trips, and remote trips. Results suggest that most trips in the study operated on an indirect feeder-like system (65%), which brought passengers between virtual ridesourcing stops and a transit stop, but not the transit stop closest to them. The alternative fixed-route transit trips mainly operated on 30-min headways, and alternative walking times were often long. The trips were found to mostly support or maintain transit usage, but the transit agency should be cautious of cases in which rides occur alongside transit (18%), instead of bringing people to it.
