Seminar No. 229

Title: Do Ride-Sharing Services Cause Traffic Congestion?

Speaker: Jindong Pang, Wuhan University

Time: June 8, 2020    13:30-15:00     (GMT+8:00)

Venue: Online

About the speaker:

Jindong Pang is an Assistant Professor at the School of Management and Economics, Wuhan University. He obtained Ph.D. in Economics from Syracuse University in 2018. Jindong’s main fields of interest are Urban, Regional, Transportation, and Real Estate Economics. His works has appeared in such journals as Journal of Applied Econometrics, Regional Science and Urban Economics.

Abstract:

This paper evaluates the impact of ride-sharing services on traffic congestion by analyzing the effect of Uber entries on vehicle miles travelled (VMT) in 352 US MSAs between 2009 and 2017. Empirical results show that Uber entries decrease total VMT by about three percent. A further analysis indicates that Uber decreases traffic on arterial roads but increases traffic on collector roads. All these effects come from large MSAs and Uber entries have no significant effect on road traffic in smaller MSAs. These results provide guidance for policy makers aiming to mitigate traffic congestion by regulating the ride-sharing industry.

Interested in this event? Please contact Feiyan at feiyantang@jnu.edu.cn by June 7 (12 PM) to register.