Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented change in transportation, including shared mobility services. This study examined the effects of the COVID-19 policies on ridesourcing usage by leveraging two years (2019 and 2020) of daily ridesourcing trip data in Chicago, Illinois. The study employed a set of Random Effects Panel models to examine how the COVID-19 related policies issued by the state and local agencies affected ridesourcing trips, let alone other factors contributing to its changes before and during the pandemic. Splitting the entire COVID-19 period of 2020 into five phases, results show: (i) a considerable drop in total daily trips, total daily trip distances, and total daily trip durations was observed once the stay-at-home order was issued, while an increase in average daily trip distances was evident during the stay-at-home period; (ii) the south and west parts of Chicago experienced a relatively larger increase in ridesourcing services during the reopen-I period than the stay-at-home and reopen-II periods; (iii) areas with higher employment density produced fewer ridesourcing trips during the pandemic while it was the opposite during the pre-pandemic period; (iv) areas with higher median income households, higher employment density, and more rail stations experienced a greater decrease in the change of daily total ridesourcing trips, total trip distances, and total trip durations during the periods of state of emergency and stay-at-home orders. Results of this study provide insights for the policymakers and ridesourcing operators to better respond to an unprecedented crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic and help them rebuild the ridesourcing ridership in the post-pandemic era.
Published Version
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