Assessing the VMT effect of ridesourcing services in the US

The net effect of ridesourcing (RS) services on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is ambiguous. With 2017 US National Household Travel Survey data, this study measures and compares the heterogeneous VMT effects of RS across population groups with various levels of household vehicle access and RS usage. A propensity score matching method was implemented to match RS nonusers, occasional users, and frequent users based on observable sociodemographic traits. The results suggest that among drivers with household vehicle access, frequent RS users generate the least VMT, but occasional users actually generate more VMT. Those without a driver's license or a household vehicle generate lower VMT while use more transit, and increasing RS use uniformly increases their overall VMT generation. We estimate that overall, RS generated a net increase of 7.8 million daily VMT in the US, compared with a counterfactual case in which all NHTS 2017 respondents were non-users of RS.

Automated summary

The study found that frequent users of ridesourcing services generate the least vehicle miles traveled among drivers with household vehicle access, while those without a driver's license or household vehicle generate lower VMT. Overall, ridesourcing services resulted in a net increase of daily VMT in the US.