Do Ridesharing Services Reduce Traffic Crashes and Injuries? A Case Study

Demand-responsive ridesharing services have gained popularity in the recent past and are being adopted by several cities as alternative or means to augment existing public transit services. Empirical studies have explored the impacts of demand-responsive ridesharing services such as congestion, travel patterns, traffic flows, and emissions; however, how these services impact traffic safety in terms of traffic crashes and injuries could not get much attention. Previous studies on safety effects of ridesharing services are based on (un)availability of a ridesharing service; however, this study argues that or absence of a service is not enough to have a significant impact on traffic safety, rather it is that actual usage of a service that makes a difference. This research purposes to investigate the impacts of ridesharing services on traffic safety, using RideAustin, a ridesharing service in Austin, Texas, as a case study. The results show that the number of traffic crashes decreased to statistically significant level with an increase in the number of trips in a block group to a certain threshold. Just presence of the service or very low ridership (less than one ride per block group) did not indicate any effect on the number of crashes indicating no impact on traffic safety. Findings of this analysis will help to understand the safety impacts of ridesharing services.