How Has Anticipated Post-Pandemic Ride-Sourcing Use Changed During the COVID-19 Pandemic? Evidence from a Two-Cycle Survey of the Greater Toronto Area

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected activity-travel behavior in cities across the world, and in particular, travel mode choices. Studies on the topic have attributed shifts in modal preferences to the changes in attitudes toward different modes of travel that resulted from the pandemic. A common theme is that attitudes toward so-called individual modes of travel, such as private vehicles and active modes, have become more positive. In contrast, attitudes toward shared modes have become more negative. Ride-sourcing represents a relatively unique middle ground, as it combines the attributes of individual and shared modes. Given the potential for the availability of these services to influence activity-travel behavior and the operations of transportation networks before the pandemic, the potential nature of post-pandemic ride-sourcing use has important implications for transportation planning. This study uses data from a web-based, two-cycle survey to examine anticipated post-pandemic ride-sourcing usage among pre-pandemic ride-sourcing users in the Greater Toronto Area. The results highlight how anticipated post-pandemic ride-sourcing usage has changed as the pandemic has progressed, including the extent to which the determinants of anticipated usage have shifted. Notably, it was observed that changes in perceptions of risk during the pandemic influence anticipated post-pandemic ride-sourcing use. Furthermore, changes in ride-sourcing use in response to the pandemic and the utilization of ride-sourcing during the pandemic were also found to influence anticipated post-pandemic usage. Overall, the results of this study underscore the potential for post-pandemic ride-sourcing usage to differ from that of pre-pandemic usage.