The Impact of Vehicle Ownership and Telecom Costs on the Sharing Economy
Has the disparity between telecom costs on the one hand, and motor vehicle costs on the other hand, led to a shift in consumer behavior?
The Differences Between Ride-Sharing and Traditional Taxis
A new business structure enhances the ability of ride-hailing drivers to offer lower prices, attract more riders, reduce empty-vehicle driving time, and enhance utilization.
Sharing Economy, Part 3: How Do Smartphones Unlock Ride-Hailing?
Smartphones interact with the other pillars of the sharing economy—excess capacity and urbanism—to facilitate the use of ride-sharing and other services in cities.
'Urban Density Paradox' Facilitates Market for Shared Travel
Proximity and density are the key variables for the sharing economy, by lowering costs and raising volumes enough to make services both affordable (for riders) and profitable (for drivers).
Defining the Sharing Economy, Part I: Excess Capacity
The sharing economy is built on three pillars: Excess resource capacity; mobile internet; and urbanism.
Social Sprawl: How Demographics and Housing Trends Impact Land Use and Fuel Consumption
As with physical sprawl, social sprawl generally causes fuel consumption to increase, through initiating several mechanisms leading to both increased vehicle ownership and increased vehicle travel.
Urban Sprawl and Its Effects on Fuel Consumption
Sprawl has a major impact on travel by extending trip distances in urban landscapes as well as creating a need for additional vehicle trips, by undermining the walkability as well as the densities needed for transit.
Hidden Costs: How Forgiveness of Student Debt Could Reduce Vehicle Ownership
If the ability to pay for a new automobile is impaired by the taxation of student debt forgiveness, the costs of vehicle ownership relative to available household funds could escalate beyond affordability.
The Structure of Transportation Revolutions: Clues of the Next Paradigm?
Transportation revolutions occur every 50 years. Could the world now be experiencing the beginning of a new paradigm with ride-sharing, autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, and similar emerging technologies?
Declining Transit Ridership: Revolutionary or Routine?
While transit vehicles have become substantially more fuel efficient in recent years, declining ridership makes it very hard to take full advantage of these gains in efficiency.
How Urban Design Affects VMT, Part II
Between 1950 and 1980, central city densities plunged, VMT soared, and transit ridership plummeted. Many commentators have speculated whether renewed “urbanization” will lead to large reductions in vehicle ownership and VMT.
How Urban Design Affects VMT, Part I
Clear recognition of the link between urban design and VMT is crucial to understanding the relevance of urban planning movements pursuing “compact development” to reduce fuel consumption and oil dependence
Land-Use Zoning and Fuel Consumption: Portland’s Urban Growth Boundaries
Portland, Oregon has higher transit ridership levels and lower vehicle miles traveled (VMT) than other metro areas of similar population.
Will ‘Urbanization of the Suburbs’ Affect Vehicle Ownership?
Understanding the “urbanization of the suburbs” may provide insight into future vehicle ownership levels and in turn fuel demand. At the margin, would changes in suburban design prompt households to reduce vehicle ownership?
Will Student Loan Debt Affect Vehicle Ownership?
Monthly debt payments of several hundred dollars, or more, mean that personal vehicle ownership may become impacted. At the margin, households may choose to own fewer vehicles to account for the need to make student loan payments.
Could Small Changes in Land Use Cause Large Shifts in Vehicle Ownership?
If future population growth occurs in suburbs of lower-density and higher income, then vehicle ownership will likely rise, whereas if future population growth gathers in higher-density, lower-income cities, vehicle ownership may decline.
Fuel Implications of Suburb-to-Suburb Commuting
The largest proportion of commuting in U.S. metropolitan areas occurs from suburb-to-suburb, standing at 40 percent of metropolitan commuters as of 2015.
America’s Aging Vehicles Delay Rate of Fleet Turnover
The average light-duty vehicle now remains in service for over three years longer than it did two decades ago. With vehicles “living” longer, the fleet will take longer to replace itself.
Car-Sharing and Ride-Sharing to End Personal Vehicle Ownership? Not Yet
The suggested dramatic reduction in urban vehicle purchases is not corroborated by U.S. Census data on household vehicle ownership.
Why Fuel Efficiency Is Essential in Reducing Consumption
Fuel efficiency standards and the long-term saturation of VMT are key factors that could have a major impact on reducing foreign petroleum dependence in the transportation sector.
