Effects of Shared Vehicle Schemes and Mobility as a Service on Car Ownership: A cost-based analysis

Car sharing, ride-hailing and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) are examples of emerging new mobility services that can considerably improve accessibility. This very likely means that, when fully implemented, the combined offer of these services will be in direct competition with the private car and will, therefore, likely affect car ownership. This study explores this impact by means of a nested logit model, using the UK region of the West Midlands as a case study. The model expresses the probability of ownership of 0, 1 or 2+ cars as a function of the operational costs of different mobility options and of socioeconomic factors relating to different market segments and the area of residence. Model calibration is done by means of a stated preference survey with West Midlands residents, which follows an orthogonal design. The results suggest that new mobility services have a significant impact on reducing car ownership, because in hypothetical situations that mobility services become more attractive, the model suggests reduced car ownership levels. Moreover, if car operation costs increase the alternatives related to car ownership are reduced, because households are offered attractive alternative mobility options. However, the results also indicate that the probability of a household owning 1 car is always the highest, thus further interventions, such as road pricing, may be needed in order to reinforce this effect. The findings could be particularly valuable for policy-makers and planners aiming to reduce carbon emissions and congestion in urban and regional areas worldwide.