Abstract Summary
A wide range of new on-demand mobility options are appearing in urban areas, one of them being pooled on-demand services (shared taxi-like services such as UberPOOL, LyftLine, OlaShare or ViaVan). Simulation studies have shown that, due to their collective nature, pooled on-demand services can bring large mobility benefits to urban areas, helping reduce congestion, pollution and space problems (ITF, 2017, 2016). These services provide flexibility to their users and trip matching only entails little travel time increases (Tachet et al., 2017). Despite these promising research findings, actual user adoption in operating pooled on-demand services is still very limited. Therefore, it is paramount to understand the demand aspects regarding pooled on-demand services in order to unleash all the potential benefits that their usage can bring to urban areas. Individual studies provide new insights into certain aspects of these services, yet they often lack a comprehensive perspective. A comprehensive perspective is, however, necessary in order to draw conclusions on how future mobility will develop. This contribution discusses the results of a series of recent scientific studies regarding the demand for pooled on-demand services in Dutch urban settings. It links the main individual research findings, and, additionally, it discusses them from a practitioners’ perspective. Other than aiming to provide a holistic picture regarding the demand for pooled on-demand services, this contribution aims at steering further joint discussion among the different transport stakeholder.
