Can car-sharing and e-hailing change vehicle-ownership-based mainstream mobility culture in China?

China is undergoing fast urbanisation and motorisation, with automobile industry being one of the key economic pillar for Chinese economy. However, the pursuit of vehicle-ownership in its transport and mobility system has... [ view full abstract ]

China is undergoing fast urbanisation and motorisation, with automobile industry being one of the key economic pillar for Chinese economy. However, the pursuit of vehicle-ownership in its transport and mobility system has created a series of urban environmental issues, including air pollution and traffic congestion. This research explores sharing economy in Chinese transport and mobility system with the assistance from smart-phone apps. It is a new area that contributes to the development of smart cities. If widely adopted, such a sharing approach to mobility, which potentially reduce private vehicle ownership, could result in a decline in pressures associated with current urban environment. Extensive studies in western societies have demonstrated that car-sharing services can help to improve sustainability, but such a sharing business model for automobiles has just started operating in China over the past few years. To date, there has been little research designed to explore the impacts. On-demand ride-hailing service is another form of vehicle sharing which has received little attention from researchers. This research reports the results of the first study designed exploring car-sharing and ride-sourcing within Chinese urban context. The aim of the research is to evaluate whether the anticipated benefits for sustainability of these two models of sharing still hold true under a very different cultural and political background, as compared to previous researches aimed primarily at North America and Europe. To author’s knowledge, it is also the first study of its type designed to explore the sustainability impacts of ride-hailing anywhere in the world. Qualitative interviews with 36 key stakeholders are conducted, that include car-sharing providers, transport planners, ride-hailing drivers as well as the users of the two services in two major Chinese cities, Beijing and Guangzhou. The results indicate that car-sharing in China as a business model can help the country to promote electric vehicles while ride-hailing enables greater access for passengers in urban areas and it improves the occupancy rate for vehicles. However, the effect on reduction in private vehicle ownership is still questionable for both vehicle sharing services. Nevertheless, sharing vehicles is crucial to product service system in modern transport and mobility system that needs more attention from both academic and policy perspectives.       

Keywords: China, sharing economy, car-sharing, ride-hailing, sustainable transport