Implications of ridesourcing and self-driving vehicles on the need for regulation in unscheduled passenger transport

Abstract

One of the major recent developments in passenger transport is the arrival of large scale ridesourcing services, such as Uber and Lyft. These actors have challenged the definitions of what private and commercial transport is, by utilizing fleets of private cars and app-technology. Ridesourcing services pose several challenges to the existing transport framework. They exist in-between commercial and private activities, are partly outside the control of governments, and partly in direct contradiction with the current regulations. This paper also looks at how ridesourcing and autonomous vehicles may reshape the market for unscheduled passenger transport. This paper combines the use of literature on regulation and the economic properties of the markets for unscheduled passenger transport with scenario analyses to look into how ridesourcing and automated vehicles affect the markets in unscheduled passenger transport. The main findings are that as underlying economic mechanisms that points towards situations that calls for regulation are similar regardless of how the services are offered, the need for regulation will remain. However, as the market properties of the market segments are different, and a shift in the relative importance of the different market segments are likely, the possible and suitable points of regulation will change.