Study to Assess the Importance of Personal, Social, Psychological and Other Factors in Ridesharing Programs

摘要

An in-depth investigation of the ridesharing programs in the Baltimore and suburban Washington, D.C. areas was needed in light of the apparent difficulty in increasing ridership on the existing ridesharing programs. Many of the studies done on ridesharing suggest that social, psychological and other personal factors may influence ridesharing as much as economic factors such as saving gasoline. To understand personal, social, psychological and other factors affecting ridesharing programs, the 'Ridesharer Survey' was designed and administered. The analysis of this survey was performed from two different aspects. One involved general statistics. Here, all the ridesharers were considered as one group and their general characteristics were analyzed. The other was a comparative statistical analysis in which ridesharers were grouped into different categories, such as by income, age, sex, marital status and race etc., and their statistics were compared to determine how these variables affect ridesharing. An 'Agency Survey' was performed to study in a systematic way the reasons for varying levels of effectiveness of ridesharing programs offered by different organizations. The objectives of the agency based survey were to find: (1) the relationship between employee size and the number of employees engaged in ridesharing programs; (2) the role of the Vango program in Maryland; and (3) the effectiveness of specific incentives offered by various agencies. The incentives included were: (1) free parking; (2) preferential parking; and (3) subsidies for ridesharers.