A multi-period analysis of taxi drivers' behaviors based on GPS trajectories

Abstract

To gain insight into how transportation network companies like Uber and Didi impact the taxi industry, we conduct a multi-period analysis of taxi drivers' behaviors, based on GPS trajectories collected from three time periods in Beijing. We extract both passenger-delivery and passenger-searching trip information from GPS trajectories and evaluate taxi drivers' working conditions. Our results reveal that the taxi industry was adversely influenced by the competition between transportation network companies, as compared to that of 2012, the average passenger-delivery trip number per day per taxi dropped by 18.08% and the average daily profit per taxi dropped by 19.29% in year 2015, respectively. We also compare passenger-searching strategies, passenger-delivery strategies, and service area preferences between taxi drivers with top and bottom efficiencies in different time periods. We find that compared to drivers with lower efficiencies, drivers with high efficiencies tend to search locally, have a faster delivery speed, and serve within the central part of Beijing.