LAUSR

Abstract This manuscript summarizes/reviews the current trends of ride-sharing services, which can be a supplement to or replacement of conventional transit services. It argues that smartcard data can be utilized to identify low-demand transit routes, where emerging ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft can play a role as a supplement to, or replacement of transit services along those routes. It outlines transferrable procedures and methods that can be used to process smartcard data and to define, identify and visualize low-demand transit routes. In an empirical study, it shows that some low-demand transit routes can probably be replaced by Uber at a lower level of overall costs. But the empirical study also indicates that the replacement can be challenging in reality given issues such as unwillingness or difficulties of local transit agencies and ride-sharing service providers in sharing financial information regarding their services, latent demand for private ride-sharing services, social equity and political/legal concerns over the introduction of private ride-sharing services into the transit-service market and usage of public funding for residents/riders to use private ride-sharing services.