Carpooling and Carpool Clubs

The increase of urban traffic congestion has called for the study of mobility management measures. One of these measures is carpooling, a system in which a person shares his private car with one or more persons in a commuter trip. In theory, these systems could lead to great reductions in the use of automobiles; however, in practice they have been obtaining limited success for two main reasons: the psychological barriers associated with riding with strangers and schedule differences. Based in findings from previous research, we proposed in this dissertation a carpooling club model which aims in overcoming these barriers and expand carpooling for regional levels through two main aspects: establishing a base trust level for carpoolers to find compatible matches for traditional groups, and at the same time allowing to search for a ride in an alternative group when a near term trip appears. Using simulation and optimization methodologies as well as a stated preference survey in Lisbon Metropolitan Area it was concluded that geographic proximity is a key issue, only surpassed by the psychological barrier of riding with strangers, which may be mitigated by a structure like the club.

Autorentext

Dr. Gonçalo Correia is a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. He has taught over six courses in transportation engineering. He performs research in transportation systems optimization, simulation and GIS. Dr. Correia received his Ph.D. in Transportation from Lisbon Technical University, Portugal, in 2009.