Why do people rideshare? An experimental study

[Display omitted] •Antecedents for ridesharing participation are examined.•Economic benefit is a marginal predictor for attitude towards ridesharing.•Trust, time benefit, and transportation anxiety are strong predictors.•Implications for policy makers and the transportation industry are discussed. Enabled by mobile technologies and fueled by the economic downturn, ridesharing has emerged in recent years as a private transportation facet of the shared economy. Our study investigates the motives for participation in situated ridesharing. We propose a theoretical model that includes economic benefits, time benefits, transportation anxiety, trust, and reciprocity either as direct antecedents of ridesharing participation intention, or mediated through attitude towards ridesharing. We conduct a scenario-based survey, with 300 participants. Our findings indicate that, in situations where transportation anxiety is high (e.g. construction on the road), if people can trust the ridesharing service providers and participants, in the presence of economic and time benefits, they will have a strong intention to participate in ridesharing.