User Attitudes toward Incentive Strategies for Transportation Network Company Services: Share Trips, Extra Walk, and Request Rides in Advance

The imbalance between supply and demand causes low operational efficiency for Transportation Network Company (TNC) services. Demand management is an efficient way to re-distribute requests in space and time dimensions, and eventually, enhance service operating efficiency. Understanding and influencing travel behavior is a significant challenge in demand management. This paper investigates users’ attitudes toward incentive strategies for TNC services in China: 1) share trips with others, 2) extra walk to a pick-up or drop-off location, 3) request rides in advance. Survey data was collected from university communities in Suzhou, China. Descriptive analysis and binary logit models are developed to understand users’ preferences over these strategies. Results highlight a high acceptance of these incentive strategies. Common factors impacting the acceptance of these strategies include commuting mode, commuting time, monthly expense, ownerships of cars/e-bicycles, and public transport membership. The findings provide insights into the planning and management of TNC services in cities.