Integrating ride-hailing services with transit: An exploratory planning framework

Ride-hailing programs established through partnerships between transit agencies and transportation network companies (TNCs) are an emerging innovative practice in public transportation services. Literature and practice attest to the potential of these programs. Recent research reports have produced how-to guides and other useful material to guide transit agencies through the various stages involved in exploring, understanding, defining, and establishing such a program. However, these materials lack adequate representation of programs established within small transit agencies because very few of the existing case studies are of ride-hailing programs operating in rural and small urban areas or small University/College/campus towns. In this study, to address this gap, we focus on the early planning stages of establishing a ride-hailing program within a small transit agency. We propose a framework based on multi-criteria decision analysis methods that can be used to explore the perceived and actual potential benefits, costs, and performance of different ride-hailing service models. We illustrate this methodology using the case study of Mountain Line Transit Authority, operating in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States (U.S.). The results highlight the need for a local exploration of both perceived and actual measures of the benefits and costs of different service models. Concerning the empirical results, the findings universally suggest that any ride-hailing service model is perceived as an enhancement of the existing transit services. Finally, there is a consensus that the area and the agency would benefit the least from implementing a late night/early morning ride-hailing service model.