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The rise and fall of the American carpool: 1970–1990
Abstract
Recent declines in carpooling among American commuters are analyzed using data derived from the US Census of Population, the Nationwide Personal Transportation Study, and the American Home Survey. The most important factors associated with recent declines in carpooling to and from work in the US include increasing household vehicle availability, falling real marginal fuel costs, and higher average educational attainments among commuters. Age, sex, family income, household lifecycle characteristics, urban form, racial diversity and relative poverty appear to have had smaller effects on observed changes in carpooling for the work trip.
... Crises are catalysts -of policies and technologies, but also of practices of social interaction (Winner 2020, chaps. 1, 2). 1 The oil crisis of the 1970s was not only responsible for the United States' adjusted Middle East strategy and the shift to smaller motor vehicles; it also established the ad-hoc collective of the carpool, opening up a formerly maximally private space -until fuel prices reached a new low in the mid-1980s, cars got bigger again, and Americans drove alone once more (Ferguson 1997). The Covid years, too, can be expected to have profound effects on public policy, technology, and social behavior, some of which will be more long-lived than others. ...
The distinction between public and private spheres has become increasingly blurred in the digital age. As more aspects of life move online, where information is potentially visible to anyone, traditional barriers dividing public and private realms dissolve. This creates a default condition of publicness for much online activity. In response, Internet users have developed novel ways of demarcating contexts as more public or more private through fleeting yet meaningful gestures. This essay argues that in digital environments, the notions of "public" and "private" take on active, performative dimensions as verbs-"publicking" and "privating." Users engage in ongoing negotiations to establish spaces of appearance and signify communication as directed toward distinct audiences amidst digital liminality. The essay critiques classic theories of the public sphere as inadequate for digital life; it proposes recasting the distinction as fluid and gestural rather than stable and institutional. Although overlooked as trivial, micro-gestures of publicking and privating enable users to perform publicness and privateness in a time when the public has become an act rather than a place. Studying these fleeting yet meaningful gestures provides insight into how users resist the default publicness of contemporary digital life.
... Though RS had been researched for years (e.g., Ferguson, 1997), its lack of substantial success is associated with limited understanding of the phenomenon and its manifestations. As scholars are faced with observation and recording challenges of what Paul Minett defined as the "invisible mode" (Shaheen & Cohen, 2019), only partial explanation of RS participation is provided (Olsson et al., 2019). ...
... It refers only to the sharing of rides by car, and between people who are not members of the same household. In other words, in the remaining of the text, ridesharing refers to the sharing of a trip sponsible for peak hour congestion and a significant proportion of emissions ( Chan & Shaheen, 2012 ;Delaunay & Baron, 2019 ;DeLoach & Tiemann, 2012 ;Ferguson, 1997 ;Galizzi, 2004 ;Morency, 2007 ;Neoh et al., 2018 ;Olsson et al., 2019 ;Shaheen, 2018 ;Shaheen & Cohen, 2019 ). Nonetheless, with the growth of online platforms and apps that connect passengers with drivers and which have proliferated with the spread of Internet and the smartphone, many believe that ridesharing could gain a second wind ( Nicoll & Armstrong, 2016 ;Olsson et al., 2019 ;Tahmasseby et al., 2016 ), especially for long-distance trips given the success of the BlaBlacar platform in France ( Shaheen et al., 2017 ). ...
While existing literature has primarily focused on carpooling, i.e. ridesharing to work, this article seeks to contribute to the comparison of three non-household ridesharing practices in terms of the profile of the people involved, and the characteristics of each practice regarding cost sharing, the ways ridesharers are connected and their main motivations. We differentiate between ridesharing practices for commuting trips, other (non-work) everyday trips, and long-distance trips. In addition to the usual determinants of ridesharing highlighted by previous literature, this study also investigates the links with collaborative consumption in general. Data come from an online survey conducted in 2016 with a sample of 2,000 French adults. They make it possible to compare ridesharers and non-ridesharers for each of the three categories of ridesharing practices, and also the three categories of ridesharers between them. Results show, on the one hand, that regardless the category of ridesharing, ridesharers differ primarily from non-ridesharers in their practices of the sharing economy, and in the fact that they have people who practice ridesharing in their entourage. Moreover, and secondly, we show differences in terms of the profile of the three categories of ridesharers, the use of online platforms and apps versus off-line methods to connect divers and passenger, and the sharing of travel costs. These result suggest that it is necessary to better distinguish between forms of ridesharing in research in order to improve our understanding of the processes at work in ridesharing, and to propose appropriate policies.
Keywords: Ridesharing; Carpooling; Everyday mobility; Long-distance trips; Sharing economy
... Sistem diğer yolcuların araç kullanımını engellemekte ve özellikle yoğun saatlerdeki trafik sıkışıklığını azaltmakta ve yolculara kişisel rahatlık sağlamaktadır (Chan ve Shaheen, 2012). Yolculuk paylaşımı; seyahat süresini ve trafik sıkışıklığını azaltmak, seyahat maliyetinden ve yakıt tüketiminden tasarruf yapmak ve çevresel kirliliği azaltmak gibi çeşitli avantajlara sahiptir (Ferguson, 1997;Kelly, 2007;Morency, 2007). ...
Due to the advancements in real-time information communication technologies and sharing economies, rideshare services have gained significant momentum by offering dynamic and/or on-demand services. Rideshare service companies evolved from personal rideshare, where riders traveled solo or with known individuals, into pooled rideshare (PR), where riders can travel with one to multiple unknown riders. Similar to other shared economy services, pooled rideshare is beneficial as it efficiently utilizes resources, resulting in reduced energy usage, as well as reduced costs for the riders. However, previous research has demonstrated that riders have concerns about using pooled rideshare, especially regarding personal safety. A U.S. national survey with 5385 participants was used to understand human factor-related barriers and user preferences to develop a novel Pooled Rideshare Acceptance Model (PRAM). This model used a covariance-based structural equation model (CB-SEM) to identify the relationships between willingness to consider PR factors (time/cost, privacy, safety, service experience, and traffic/environment) and optimizing one’s experience of PR factors (vehicle technology/accessibility, convenience, comfort/ease of use, and passenger safety), resulting in the higher-order factor trust service. We examined the factors’ relative contribution to one’s willingness/attitude towards PR and user acceptance of PR. Privacy, safety, trust service, and convenience were statistically significant factors in the model, as were the comfort/ease of use factor and the service experience, traffic/environment, and passenger safety factors. The only two non-significant factors in the model were time/cost and vehicle technology/accessibility; it is only when a rider feels safe that individuals then consider the additional non-significant variables of time, cost, technology, and accessibility. Privacy, safety, and service experience were factors that discouraged the use of PR, whereas the convenience factor greatly encouraged the acceptance of PR. Despite the time/cost factor’s lack of significance, individual items related to time and cost were crucial when viewed within the context of convenience. This highlights that while user perceptions of privacy and safety are paramount to their attitude towards PR, once safety concerns are addressed, and services are deemed convenient, time and cost elements significantly enhance their trust in pooled rideshare services. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of user acceptance of PR services and offers actionable insights for policymakers and rideshare companies to improve their services and increase user adoption.
Les territoires périurbains accueillent un nombre croissant d’initiatives citoyennes de partage des trajets en automobile. Parallèlement, la loi d’Orientation des mobilités promeut l’organisation du covoiturage de proximité par des intercommunalités dotées d’une compétence propre. L’article s’appuie sur des enquêtes de terrain et l’analyse des prises de paroles publiques des maires de villes de Bretagne et des Pays de la Loire. Cette zone du Grand Ouest présente un peuplement rural relativement dense et de fortes solidarités entre hameaux, bourgs et villages. Ce travail révèle que, dans ce paysage singulier, la voiture en partage se prête particulièrement à une lecture du système énergétique et politique périurbain depuis les figures de l’abondance et de la rareté. Loin de refléter la prégnance du cadrage normatif, cette étude de terrain tend à montrer combien les parties tentent d’abord de préserver les attachements socio-spatiaux et de pérenniser un style de vie.
The current sharing economy suffers from system-wide deficiencies even as it produces distinctive benefits and advantages for some participants. The first generation of sharing markets has left us to question: Will there be any workers in the sharing economy? Can we know enough about these technologies to regulate them? Is there any way to avoid the monopolization of assets, information, and wealth? Using convergent, transdisciplinary perspectives, this volume examines the challenge of reengineering a sharing economy that is more equitable, democratic, sustainable, and just. The volume enhances the reader's capacity for integrating applicable findings and theories in business, law and social science into ethical engineering design and practice. At the same time, the book helps explain how technological innovations in the sharing economy create value for different stakeholders and how they impact society at large. Reengineering the Sharing Economy is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
The purpose of this study is to present a procedure for estimating the responsiveness of potential women labor force participants to actual job holding at alternative locations. The procedure incorporates a work trip distribution technique and a variation of the gravity model in developing a weighted measure of alternative job opportunities across space. This measure, termed geographic access to employment opportunities, is used as an independent variable in estimating actual participation in the labor market for two occupational categories for women residing in Burlington County, New Jersey.
A mathematical model of ride sharing was proposed and tested by using data collected in the Chicago area in 1975. The purpose of the model development was to determine how perceived advantages and disadvantages of ride sharing determine behavioral predispositions toward it. The main conclusions are that (a) demographic and travel characteristics are poor indicators and predictors of the choice between driving alone and ride sharing; (b) the study of attitudes toward ride sharing and driving alone provides answers that are relevant to the question of how to develop ride-sharing stategies; (c) with the exception of individuals having a relatively high socioeconomic status, appeals based on public-interest issues of energy, traffic, and air quality have little chance of changing attitudes toward ride sharing; (d) perceptions of drivers toward time loss and the characteristics of convenience and reliability of ride sharing would need to change before their travel behavior would change and perceptions of economic advantages have a minor role in the determination of behavioral predisposition toward ride sharing; and (3) to override negative perceptions about ride sharing, campaigns should address its positive aspects related to the use of travel time and its convenience and reliability.
To find a library where the publication may be available, visit: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981. Otherwise, the order URL is: http://www.trb.org/Publications/Pages/262.aspx.
Reference link: http://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=73083
Carpooling may be defined as shared ride trips via private automobiles for the journey to and from work. In the past, researchers argued that carpoolers could not be distinguished from other commuters based on demographic characteristics. Recently, some researchers have cited the influx of women in the work force and the continuing suburbanization of jobs and housing as reasons for the sharp decline in carpooling between 1980 and 1990. A review of significant research on carpooling over the past 20 years is presented with an in-depth analysis of 1990 Nationwide Personal Transportation Study data to identify the demographics of carpooling, then and now. Prior research suggests that family income, gender, distance to work, and residential location have the greatest effect on carpool formation. This study suggests that automobile availability within households and the level of education of individual commuters may be more significant factors in carpool formation. The research shows that (a) family income has little direct effect on carpool formation other than at the lowest income levels, (b) family income does affect automobile ownership, which partially determines auto availability, (c) gender has little direct effect on the formation of nonhousehold carpools, and (d) women are more likely to form house-hold-based carpools in families with children, particularly very young children.
Ridesharing, firm size, and urban form are analyzed using 1980 Census data. It was hypothesized that the propensity of employees to carpool should increase with firm size at the regional level of analysis. A few outlier observations at the county and SMSA levels of analysis seemed to corroborate this hypothesis. In general, however, no relationship, or a weakly negative one, was found between firm size and the propensity of employees to carpool at the regional level. Firm size is therefore probably not a direct cause of higher levels of employee ridesharing. Other factors, including the interrelated location decisions of firms and their employees, must also be involved. © 1991, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. All rights reserved.
The emphasis in transportation planning has recently changed from long-range, high-capital investments to short-term, low-cost transportation system improvements. The development of incentives for bus riding and carpooling, particularly for the work trip, plays a major role in this resource management process. This study is specifically designed to uncover factors which influence the intentions of the single-occupant auto commuters to switch to buses and carpools and to suggest operating policies consistent with the intent to encourage the use of high-occupancy vehicles. The single-occupant auto commuters are segmented into several potential ridesharing markets on the basis of their expressed intention to take a bus or a carpool if certain transportation system modifications were effected.Three groups of switchers are identified: those who are positively oriented towards taking a bus, those who would only switch to a carpool, and those who would consider either of the ridesharing modes. Bus convenience is the most important variable associated with the shift intention. Perceptions of carpool comfort do not appear to be important, rather, perceptions of carpool schedule flexibility, cost, safety and a short wait in traffic are prime factors associated with potential carpool shifting. Additional models involving mode satisfaction are reviewed and policies which enhance bus convenience and minimize waiting in traffic for carpools are suggested to recruit the potential ridesharers.
Many studies have shown that women work closer to home than do men, but few have probed the reasons for this persistent finding and none has done so at the metropolitan scale or considered the link between journey-to-work patterns and the occupational segregation of women. We first review the various possible reasons for women's shorter journeys to work and then examine each of these with data from the Baltimore, Maryland SMSA. We compare the work-trip distances and times of 303 employed women with those of 484 men, drawn from the 1977 Baltimore Travel Demand Data. As expected, women's work trips are significantly shorter than men's in both travel time and distance Women's lower incomes, their concentration in female-dominated occupations, and their greater reliance on the bus and auto passenger modes all help to explain their shorter work trips Male-female differences in part— versus full-time work status, occupational group, and, most surprisingly, household responsibility, did not, however, contribute to explaining observed gender differences in joumey-to-work patterns. We also found that the difference in the home and work locations of women and men could explain women's shorter work trips. A higher proportion of women than of men live and work in the central city, where journey to work distances are shorter, and there is some evidence that female-dominated employment opportunities are more uniformly distributed over the SMSA whereas male-dominated jobs are clustered in certain districts. We conclude that working women are more sensitive to distance than men are for reasons related more to their mobility than to their "dual roles" of wage earner/homemaker Also, because of women's sensitivity to commuting distance, the location of different types of employment opportunities is likely to play a role in the occupational segregation of women.
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the proposition that residential decisions are made with reference to the male head of household's job location, disadvantaging females in the labor market. A sample of approximately 50,000 adults in two-earner households in urban areas distributed across the United States is selected from public use microdata from the 1980 census and used to estimate a simultaneous model to explain commute to work behavior of men and women. The model is estimated separately for households that did and did not change residences in the past year. The impacts of the new residences on the commute times of both male and female workers, holding other variables constant, are compared. We conclude that residential selection does favor males relative to females, although there is evidence that this advantage is eliminated as the ratio of female to male earnings in the same household narrows.
Carpooling is the commuting mode of 18 to 20% of American workers, but relatively little definitive information has been available on who carpools, how and why. Based on data from the 1977–1978 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey, this paper analyzes the characteristics of carpoolers, distinguishes among different types of carpoolers, identifies the key differences between carpoolers and drive alone and transit commuters, describes how commuters carpool, and offers explanations of why commuters carpool. The paper also addresses the issue of the feasibility of a substantial increase in carpool mode share.