Before-After Study Analyzed the Change of Road Crash Rate for the Introduction of Austin’s Ridesourcing Service in Travis County, Texas.
Austin, Texas, United States
Associating Ridesourcing with Road Safety Outcomes: Insights from Austin, Texas
Summary Information
Transportation network companies, such as ridesourcing, offer expanded mobility options in cities. However, the advent of ridesourcing services may impact road safety. This study analyzed the effects of RideAustin ridesourcing service, launched in June 2016 in Travis County, Texas. The researchers conducted before and after study to evaluate the impact of ridesourcing services on road crashes, injuries, fatalities, and Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) offenses by utilizing real-time ridesourcing volumes. The researchers used mathematical models to examine whether the use of ridesourcing is significantly associated with road crashes and other safety metrics, utilizing data on safety outcomes, ridesourcing and traffic volumes, and socio-demographics from January 2012 to the beginning of April 2017.
METHODOLOGY
To investigate the association between ridesourcing travel and road safety, the researchers started by aggregating variables by census tract and month-year units. The ridesourcing operation was launched in Travis County in June 2016. Researchers employed spatial models (i.e., spatial lag and spatial error models) to analyze road safety outcomes before and after the introduction of ridesourcing services in each neighborhood. Spatial models are used to analyze geographical data to examine the spatial interaction among variables across geographical locations.
FINDINGS
- For a 10 percent increase in ridesourcing use, researchers found a 0.12 percent decrease in road crashes, a 0.25 percent decrease in road injuries, and a 0.36 percent decrease in DWI offenses. All reductions were statistically significant.
- Ridesourcing use was not associated with fatalities at the 0.1 significance level.
