Wuppertal Institute analyzes ecological and social benefits

The Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy has published a paper entitled On-Demand Ridepooling as a Contribution to the Mobility Transition and Public Services. The report presents comprehensive statistics on operating times, service standards and payment options of 60 on-demand ridepooling systems surveyed in 2022. This is supplemented by responses from 33 system operators on fleet sizes, licensing requirements, conditions, gender equality, target groups and other aspects. A system typology is developed on the basis of this data. Ideal system characteristics are outlined for each of the nine different types, their ecological and social advantages are highlighted and an example system is presented.

Particularly in rural areas, systems that offer a comprehensive service with low standards are crucial for securing and improving services of general interest (type Rural 1). A contribution to the mobility transition in these areas can be achieved through a honeycomb-like service around regional transport hubs with express buses and local rail passenger transport (type Regional 2). In urban areas, on the other hand, it can be seen that a high-quality service with a price gap to local public transport offers the greatest potential (type Urban 2). These characteristics increase the proportion of substituted journeys by private motorized transport (MIT) and reduce the proportion of substituted eco-mobility.

The report makes it clear that on-demand ridepooling can play a key role in the transformation of today's privately organized and resource-intensive automobility towards more sustainable, shared mobility. The biggest challenge at present is the high system costs, which are mainly caused by drivers. Economies of scale and autonomous driving could provide a remedy here. In addition, considerable progress could be made in system design for different application contexts if all available data were evaluated in a bundled manner.

As a think tank, the Wuppertal Institute drives research for a sustainable and climate-friendly future and actively shapes transformation processes towards a resource-efficient world.