Who Embraces Shared Mobility and Why? A Survey in Beijing and Shanghai, China

Shared mobility (SM) provides a feasible solution for reducing the number of private cars and alleviating urban traffic congestion. However, SM is not widely accepted in China’s mobility market. Based on a scenario choice experiment conducted in Beijing and Shanghai, we present two on-demand shared modes and conduct an empirical comparison with traditional travel modes to explore the potential of shared mobility and heterogeneous users’ preferences for travel attributes. First, we divide users into four categories according to their travel habits and examine heterogeneous users’ travel inertia and preference differences for shared mobility. Second, we analyze the impacts of demographic characteristics, travel attributes, and travel purposes on users’ mode choices with a discrete choice model (DCM). Third, we explore the potential user sources and the development potential of SM in these two cities. The results indicate that Beijing has a greater positive potential for SM. To be specific, car users are the main potential users of SM in Beijing, while the largest source in Shanghai is bus users. Moreover, due to the differences in travel inertia and preferences of heterogeneous users, the promotion of SM can aggravate the urban traffic congestion in Shanghai. Attribute analysis suggests that fewer transfers and more carpoolers are the two most critical factors driving users to choose SM. Meanwhile, time-related attributes have a significant impact on bus users, and exorbitant parking fees will prompt car users to choose SM. Finally, users’ residence location, age, and travel purpose have evident heterogeneous effects on mode choice