An interesting article in the Financial Times this week highlighted two challenges with the C2C ridesharing trend. Primarily, that drivers sometimes shun passengers making short trips and also focus on higher income areas for their pick-ups.
In this blog, we take a look at some of the people and trips that the peer-to-peer model is not the best match for and have a closer look at some of the B2C and community-based alternatives that are possible.
Short Journeys
As the article suggests, if you wish to make a short journey it can be challenging finding a ride and eventually when you get a lift, the brief trip may result in less than average rating, depending on the platform you are using.
Midway through last year Uber introduced an upgrade to its platform in the UK. As part of the revamp, drivers could now see the destination postcode of their potential passengers. This resulted in drivers having a strong indication of the income potential for a journey. This has since been replicated in California and other Uber locations around the world .
Of course, drivers seek higher cash earning potential trips and short journeys contradict this desire and may skip the booking in favour of more profitable postcodes.
A quick look at the driver forums will indicate that even without the destination information, drivers were already dissatisfied with passengers making short journeys and some users suggest that this can lead to below average passenger ratings.
Good news
There is plenty of good news if you need to take a short trip. C2C ridesharing is not the only option and chances are you are making the journey in an urban area anyways. B2C ride-hailing apps, which are basically the same as a peer-to-peer platform, connect standard taxi companies rather than peers with passengers. These are plentiful in cities and drivers are not able refuse or review you.
Alternatively, sign up for one of the many B2C bike or scooter sharing schemes which can be found in just about any major city today.
And if all else fails, you can simply walk.
But what do you think? Are there other possibilities for short journeys? If you have a suggestion, please leave a comment below!
Less affluent areas
As both the Financial Times and the Wired articles mention, drivers are sometimes likely to avoid some less well-off areas, either through fear to their safety or the reduced likelihood of finding a pick-up after the drop-off. Furthermore, shared bikes and scooter schemes focus their attention on more affluent locations which are able to produce more revenue.
Good news
In a captivating paper from the Northeastern University and the Stern School of Business, the researchers investigated the welfare improvement of using a peer-to-peer car-rental marketplace. In other words, they wanted to see the relationship between C2C car-rentals and the income class of the users.
Interestingly, the research showed that car lending platforms within a community are more likely to be offered and supplied in lower income areas. The reason for this is that the demand for the service is increasing and at the same time there is an increase of supply of cars that owners are willing to share within the community.
Put simply, there is an increase in the supply and demand for a shared-ownership model in below-median income communities. This means that while access to ride-sharing platforms may be problematic, people in these communities will have greater access to car-sharing platforms from within their community.
But what do you think? Are there other possibilities for less affluent areas and is ridesharing limited to the higher income classes? If you have a suggestion, please leave a comment below!
Outside of the urban sprawl
The challenge for any ridesharing platform is obvious in non-built up areas. As peer-to-peer mobility concepts are skewed towards profit making, there is little supply in these areas. This problem was summarized perfectly by a German mobility consulting agency who stating that when it comes to “issues concerning supply/demand matching and personal preferences, it is doubtful whether ridesharing is an option which can sufficiently resolve the mobility problems in rural areas”.
Good news
If you live outside of the city, in more and more place’s car-sharing options are popping up. This business model is often membership based and you can pick up and drop of a shared car at a local transportation hub (often a train station). One example of such a service here in Switzerland is called Mobility.
Other examples of services around the world are Car2go, DriveNow and Zipcar, however these are all B2C models and are expensive if you want to take the car home, as many use hourly rather than daily rates. However, be patient other models will surely be heading to the countryside soon.
Other options in rural areas is to use the traditional G2C public transport services which are still in service in many places. However, with cost cutting and reduced demand, these services are becoming more sporadic.
But what do you think? Are there other possibilities for rural travellers? If you have a suggestion, please leave a comment below!
So that’s it!
There are no doubt other communities and ride types who are overlooked by the shared mobility model. These are just the main three that my knowledge and research popped up when looking into this topic. Either way, it shows that no matter the journey type or the area you are travelling to or from, there is always going to be an option for your ride. It just may not be with some of the new forms of mobility.
Photo by Simon Matzinger from Pexels
