A cross-cultural study of nonprofit self-organized ridesharing

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Nonprofit ridesharing presents an underutilized opportunity for increasing transportation sustainability, as well as users’ economic and social benefits, while reducing adverse environmental impacts. However, while app-based ridesharing has achieved only modest uptake, mostly limited to longer trips, in certain contexts, self-organized ridesharing (SORS) has shown significant achievements, even for the challenging short- and mid-range commuting trips. Still, knowledge regarding the key elements and mechanisms behind successful SORS is partial, hindering the ability to effectively leverage SORS diffusion and scaling potential. Following the premise that successful initiatives may provide learning opportunities, this study aims at narrowing this knowledge gap by performing a comparative cross-cultural systematic study of eight diverse SORS cases. The study uses a recently designed conceptual framework and multiple research methods (mainly online data exploration, personal interviews, observations, and documents analysis) to comprehensively examine SORSs’ attributes and evolution stages and processes. Study findings highlight repeated patterns as well as the role of context, official actors, and local practices in shaping initiative’s dynamics towards success. The study offers general and specific policy recommendations for supporting the early development, growth, and diffusion of SORS, as well as reflections on post pandemic ridesharing.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)717-757
Number of pages41
JournalTransportation
Volume51
Issue number2
Early online date9 Nov 2022
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022.

Keywords

  • Carpooling
  • Case studies
  • Commuting
  • Cross-cultural
  • Nonprofit ridesharing
  • Self-organization

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Development
  • Transportation

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