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The review of past and present rideshare initiatives has highlighted a number of approaches to increasing rideshare participation. Several of the most important approaches are discussed. Recommendations for individual stakeholder groups are also outlined.

9.2.1 Focus on Large Employers

Large employers should be the primary focus of rideshare initiatives. They have a much stronger ability to encourage alternative travel behavior among their employees, largely due to the variety of incentives and disincentives at their disposal. A modification in parking pricing tends to be the strongest disincentive to drive alone, and incentives such as reduced pricing for rideshare parking, preferential rideshare parking, pre-tax transit benefits and cash awards all help encourage shared vehicle use. Large employers also have the ability to survey their employees and gather important information on current travel behavior in much more detail than a private provider or public agency is typically capable of. This allows for much more detailed travel recommendations. While focusing on large employers narrows the size of the target

between employees is much higher. As compared to other stakeholder groups, large employers have many more tools at their disposal for encouraging better travel behavior.

9.2.2 Understand Individual Motivations and Undertake Personalized Marketing Efforts Travelers are not a homogenous group. Some may be willing to share rides, but simply do not know where to find appropriate partners. Others may be willing to share rides if the incentives to do so are sufficiently high. Others may not be willing to share rides, but might consider park-and-ride opportunities if transit benefits were provided. Some subset of travelers is very likely to never share a ride because of personal preferences. Understanding these individual motivations can be time consuming and often requires large amounts of personal data, leading to privacy concerns. However the benefits can be substantial.

Personalized marketing and travel planning that responds to individual motivations is more likely to result in changes in travel behavior. While the subset of individuals targeted is likely to be relatively small, the potential change in behavior is higher, as resources are only being directed at those travelers who are most likely to change their behavior.

9.2.3 Application of Technology Complements Other Rideshare Service Improvements The use of “real-time” rideshare technologies can complement other changes in rideshare service provision, but should not be viewed as a sufficient solution to rideshare challenges. Smart phone

technologies can be very useful at identifying non-recurring “immediate match” rideshare trips, displaying real-time information on other alternative modes of transportation such as public transit, measuring

successful rideshare trips, and at incorporating additional safety features into rideshare services. However, it does not substantially address the economic and institutional challenges facing ridesharing. If

participation is to be increased, the focus of future efforts should be on improving institutional collaboration and the economics of ridesharing, while incorporating the real advantages that new mobile technologies provide in a well designed a focused ridesharing initiative.

9.2.4 Recommendations for Large Employers

Large employers considering improved ridesharing options for their organizations should consider a number of important points when choosing a given strategy.

Surveys of employee travel behavior, particularly when they include travel behavior over a period of a week or more, provide a tremendous amount of information for evaluating the potential of ridesharing and

alternative commuting modes. This information is relatively easy to gather and low cost in most cases, although privacy concerns will need to be considered.

Travel surveys allow for a much greater understanding of personal travel decisions and may allow for much more customized incentive packages for commuters. Detailed travel information can also allow for the identification of commuters who are very unlikely to change their travel behavior, and those individuals can be avoided. The resources that would have gone to more general marketing and promotion can be focused on those who are most likely to change their behavior. Personalized marketing, customized incentives and personal travel counseling provide excellent opportunities to improve commuter decision making and encourage alternatives to SOV travel. However, marketing and incentives are likely to be the single largest cost item for a rideshare initiative, so it is imperative that a strong institutional commitment be developed at the outset so that an initiative has sufficient time to demonstrate results.

Performance measurement is a key feature that should be included in all rideshare initiatives. The measurement of shared rides, commuter incentive preferences and long-term changes in travel behavior are all important metrics. With this information, the relative cost effectiveness of rideshare initiatives can be demonstrated and the results, if positive, can be used to support rideshare initiatives elsewhere.

9.2.5 Recommendations for Private Providers

Private providers will continue to have a strong role to play in the provision of rideshare software and matching technologies. While various business models have been attempted in the past, the targeting of large employers and regional/statewide public sector agencies appears to have the greatest lasting potential from a revenue generation perspective, and from a rideshare participation perspective. Past attempts to target the general public have been largely unsuccessful and should be avoided.

For those providers offering ‘real-time’ services, poor commuter perceptions of travel reliability remains a major concern. Slight modifications to ‘real-time’ services that would allow for confirmation of shared rides the evening before the morning commute, and several hours before the afternoon commute would provide some balance between the schedule flexibility and travel reliability that commuters seek.

For those providers that do not currently offer ‘real-time’ services on smart phones, increased use of technology may still be beneficial. The use of rideshare services on GPS-enabled smart phones allows for the provision of real-time information on alternative travel options such as transit, accurate tracking of rideshare trips and the incorporation of safety features.

9.2.6 Recommendations for Public Sector Providers

The public sector has various important roles to play in the success of ridesharing. While the provision of regional or statewide ride matching services is one potential role for the public sector, this is certainly not the most critical.

Public sector providers have a strong role to play in encouraging large employers to promote commuting alternatives to their employees. This can be accomplished through the use of ‘sticks’ and ‘carrots’.

Examples of effective ‘sticks’ that have been used previously have included Washington State’s Commute Trip Reduction ordinance, which requires large employers to reduce vehicle trips, or the City of Cambridge, MA ceiling on parking spaces at MIT and other nearby employers. But the public sector is an important provider of ‘carrots’ as well. The provision of technical assistance to large employers in the development of ridesharing (or ‘commuting alternative’) initiatives and the funding of comprehensive demonstration projects would appear to be suitable roles for the public sector.

The public sector is also an important stakeholder in the evaluation of the effectiveness of different

incentives. Public agencies have generally had a long history of providing incentives for rideshare initiatives and have sufficient resources to conduct participant surveys to determine which types of incentives are the most appealing to travelers and the most effective at modifying behavior. However, this is not to say that public sector providers should be the only stakeholder groups that evaluate incentive effectiveness; some private sector providers are equally well positioned to accomplish this.