The competitive e-hailing market: modelling and operation strategies

Abstract

In recent years, transport network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft, have emerged explosively and marked the inception of the e-hailing market. Over the years, they have significantly reshaped how transportation services are provided. More important than ever, we need to ensure an efficiently operated e-hailing market, which would be beneficial to many stakeholders, such as passengers, drivers, and TNCs, and also the wider public. The main chapters of the thesis explore the characteristics of the e-hailing market using both aggregated and disaggregated modelling frameworks, and propose various operational strategies to improve the efficiency of the e-hailing market.

Chapter 2 explores how market fragmentation in a multi-platform e-hailing market may lead to inefficiencies. This chapter introduces an equilibrium model capable of addressing two types of passenger cancellation behaviours. Using the proposed model, the chapter quantifies the inefficiencies in a fragmented market under various market conditions. Chapter 3 addresses the inefficiencies in a fragmented market by introducing a decentralized dynamic cooperation mechanism between two platforms. The strategy lets the platforms share their excess resources and helps bridge the supply and demand imbalance in the market. Chapter 4 considers a platform that offers ridesharing services in addition to standard ridesourcing services. The strategy offers shared trips to selected passengers with individualized price discount to promote ridesharing and improve overall operational efficiency. Chapter 5 recognizes that there is a trade-off between matching time and pickup time for providing ridesourcing services. This chapter proposes a strategy where the platform can offer multi-tiered ridesourcing services with differentiated matching times, pickup times, and prices, to address this dilemma.