An Evaluation of Via Rideshare Service in West Sacramento: An Exploratory Analysis Through Surveys and Expert Interviews

Authors: Elliot Martin, PhD, Aqshems Nichols, Susan Shaheen, PhD Date: November 1, 2019 Abstract: The UC Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) conducted an evaluation for the City of West Sacramento of the pilot Via Rideshare System, which began providing rides to customers in May of 2018 and is currently in operation. This analysis presents the findings from surveys and expert interviews. Surveys were deployed to both users and non-users of the pilot service in order to assess the behavioral impacts of the system on users and to evaluate non-user response to the system and why they had not yet opted to not use the service. The user survey, which collected 224 respondents, provided a number of key takeaways. First, the pilot served as a mode substitution with several personal vehicle modes, the most prominent of which was Uber/Lyft (45% mode substitution). Second, of the 39 respondents, 23% responded that they drove alone at least once fewer every week or greater in response to using Via. Third, of 35 respondents, 49% reported that the pilot service significantly improved their child’s mobility and accessibility. Via was reported to improve quality of life by 57% of respondents. These results, amongst others discussed in the report, show that users reported that the service was impacting their behavior and quality of life. The non-user survey, which collected 145 respondents, also provided several important takeaways. First, 44% of 125 respondents reported that they had planned to use the service but had not gotten around to it yet. Second, 55% of 105 respondents thought that the service would be cheaper. Third, 51% of 106 respondents...

Are robotaxis good for the climate?

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Blanca Begert November 29, 2023 Susan Shaheen, UC Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center Co-Director discusses shared automated vehicles with Polictico. “If you could get more people sharing a car, when you start to look at the vehicle miles traveled and the greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant impacts, they’re likely going to be lower,” said Susan Shaheen, a California Air Resources Board member and director of UC Berkeley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center. Prior to the pandemic, numbers for carpools or van pools were already starting to slip. And during the pandemic, these numbers tanked for rideshare companies and were never able to return. Shaheen says AV companies and regulators could learn from past mistakes and recent studies to incentivize pooling through pricing, updates to rideshare logistics and changes to urban design. “If we allow these systems to be deployed without policy strategies or interventions, perhaps we will see an increase in demand and an increase in VMT,” said Shaheen. “But if we introduce these vehicle systems in concert with policies directed at land use and operations and pricing mechanisms, do we get different outcomes? Our research would suggest ‘yes.’” Read full article...

Going My Way? Understanding Curb Management and Incentive Policies to Increase Pooling Service Use and Public Transit Linkages in the San Francisco Bay Area

Authors: Wesley Darling, Jacquelyn Broader, Adam Cohen, Susan Shaheen Date: September 20, 2023 Abstract: Despite lower user costs, only 20% to 40% of transportation network company (TNC) us-ers select a pooled, or shared, ride option. Why are existing TNC users not selecting the pooled option or using TNCs to connect to public transit, and what role do built environment features and incentives play in their decision? This study explores the factors that influence TNC user decisions through a multi-method approach comprising photovoice small group discussions and a workshop. Between March 2021 and May 2021, 15 San Francisco Bay Area TNC users shared photographs they took of TNC pick-up locations through two-to-three-person guided small group discussions. The photos revealed that users prefer waiting in retail or in well-lit, good-visibility locations. Partici-pants’ primary concern was personal safety, particularly female users who may take additional pre-cautions when walking to pick-up locations and waiting for and taking rides. In July 2021, 12 pho-tovoice participants and 5 stakeholders provided feedback on key findings from the photography discussions. The pooling improvement strategies identified include the following: designated TNC stops with lighting and marked pick-up areas; enhanced in-app safety features; TNC partnerships with employers and retailers to incentivize riders; and mode transfer discounts for connecting TNCs to public transit. The findings suggest that safety related to the built environment plays an outsized role in a TNC user’s decision to pool or connect to public transit, and the out-of-vehicle portion of the TNC trip should be equally considered when developing policies to increase pooling. View...

What opportunities do robo-taxis in San Francisco offer? Experts explain.

Photo/Bill Stone, California PATH/UC Berkeley Rachel Leven September 19, 2023 Susan Shaheen, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center, discusses automated vehicles with the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society. Hundreds of self-driving cars have flooded San Francisco streets following a recent state decision that allowed certain ‘robo-taxis’ to operate 24 hours a day and to charge passengers. This new reality could provide data that helps vet decades of theory about autonomous vehicles and how they fit into society, UC Berkeley academics said. This moment also offers an opportunity to reimagine what accessibility and equality looks like in transportation. “Technology has the potential to provide powerful strategies to address a number of societal issues. However, advanced technology also has the ability to divide,” said Susan Shaheen, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center and a civil and environmental engineering professor. “That’s something we really need to be conscious of as we move forward.” Read full article...

Shared e-scooters can be sustainable—but there’s a catch

DEPOSIT PHOTOS Carla Delgado August 7, 2023 Although the pilot program revealed that a number of users replaced motor vehicle travel with e-scooter sharing, “it also found that scooter-sharing replaced some lower emission active transportation trips,” says Susan Shaheen, co-director of Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Data shows that about 42 percent of Portlanders would have taken lower-emission trips if scooters weren’t an option: 37 percent said they would walk and 5 percent would’ve taken a bicycle. Moreover, the operations of the program—which involves the deployment and retrieval of e-scooters every day—likely added motor vehicle trips to the transportation system, but it is beyond the scope of the study. It’s important to understand the overall impact of e-scooters beyond the trips they replace and consider other factors like manufacturing and longevity because results can vary based on the assumptions and scenarios modeled, says Shaheen. Read full article...