Author(s)

DAVID ASHMORE, PARUL SHARMA, BRANISLAVA GODIC

Abstract

India’s very high traffic levels produce some of the worst air quality in the world. To craft sustainable policies to address this, it is important to understand the basis upon which people make transport modal choice decisions within Indian cities. Arguably, this becomes easier when a new mode such as ride-hailing disrupts the market and exposes the complex aspects of the modal choice dynamic within a culture. Through qualitative thematic analysis that draws upon two existing datasets, this paper explores the market niche served by ride-hailing platforms in India in the forms of both taxis and auto-rickshaws. It is shown that ride-hailing has had a distinct effect on the mode choice attribute set for several reasons, some of which trade off against each other in different ways, for different groups. Understanding these reasons facilitates an expanded research agenda and the development of tailored modal choice models to enable sustainable transport policies.

Keywords

ride-hailing, India, urban transport, mode choice, developing countries