Shared Mobility Data Availability and Usage Trends

Abstract

In this report, we summarize data availability of new shared mobility technologies by mobility type and region and analyze how shared mobility usage varies by time and by demographic factors in the United States. The shared mobility technologies include ridehailing from transportation network companies (TNC), bikeshare, and scooter share. There is a wide range in shared mobility usage per capita across the country, even within urban areas. We observe that there was steady growth of new shared mobility usage from 2015 to early 2020, before COVID-19 reduced overall ridership. An analysis focused on Chicago shows that despite the availability of good public transportation, high usage of new shared mobility modes is centered in high income communities, especially by households who own less vehicles. However, we find that TNC is used for first-mile and last-mile in lower income communities. Analysis on the bikeshare usage also shows that household income is shown to not be a statistically significant factor when accounting for other factors including employment density, population density, percentage of college graduates, and bike-lane proximity.