INCENTIVES AND DISINCENTIVES TO RIDE-SHARING BEHAVIOR: A PROGRESS REPORT (ABRIDGMENT)

A 3-phase study is reported which was designed to obtain valid and meaningful data about consumer attitudes toward ride sharing and to develop more sensitive methods for such study. The problem addressed is the lack of in-depth information about what specific incentives and disincentives affect different groups of users. In the first phase, ride-sharing incentives and disincentives among potential and actual ride shares were explored. In the second, a survey built from the motivational information derived in Phase 1 were carried out with a larger sample. In Phase 3, ride-sharing strategies derived from the incentives and disincentives discovered were explored with groups of users and of transportation professionals for feasibility on a pilot basis. A sample of early findings which illustrate the kinds of issues and questions being obtained are presented as well as an examination of a number of strategies that have policy implications for the design of car pooling programs.