Assessment of subsidized shared transport services on mobility patterns: Evidence and Lessons from cellphone mobility data

Understanding how emerging shared transport services affect urban mobility is critical for designing sustainable and equitable transit systems. However, empirical evidence on the real-world impacts of subsidized shared transport services remains limited. This study evaluates the impacts of two such services: the Mobility on Demand (MOD) Project and Metro Micro Project, on mobility patterns in Los Angeles County using cellphone-based mobility data. The MOD Project initially utilized a ride-hailing mode with limited semi-fixed routes and transition to point-to-point flexible routes during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Metro Micro Project adopted a micro-transit mode with mini-buses operating on flexible routes. Applying a matched Difference-in-Differences (DiD) framework, we analyze visit trends at Points of Interest (POIs) across industries and geographic areas from 2018 to 2022.The findings reveal that the MOD Project significantly increased POI visitation major in El Monte area by 7.5%, with the growth primarily from retail trade, food service, and laundry service sectors, and driven by the transition to flexible point-to-point travel. However, the Metro Micro Project had statistically insignificant effects overall, although notable regional heterogeneity was observed. Furthermore, the ride-hailing mode under the MOD Project was more effective in increasing POI visitation than the micro-transit mode of Metro Micro. These results highlight the critical role of service flexibility and mode selection in integrating shared transport with public transit systems as "last-mile solution."

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S., Applied Economics and Management

Level thesis:degree_level

Master of Science

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Applied Economics and Management

Grantor

Cornell University

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Guo, Ruihua

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Zhang, Jingwei

• DID
• Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
• public transit
• shared transport

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7298/sekd-rm44

Dc Identifier Other

ProQuest Submission ID: 12399
ProQuest Publication ID: 31999421

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ecommons.cornell.edu:1813/117431