Barriers to a Successful and Sustainable Dynamic Car-pooling System

Abstract

With technology developed in recent years, dynamic car-pooling has started to become a phenomenon. Compared to traditional car-pooling, dynamic car-pooling apps allow users to car-pool on-demand with their smartphone, getting matched with drivers and other riders near-instantly. Although this has solved previous communication and information problems in car-pooling, the mobile technology has so far not reversed the decrease in the trend of car-pooling. This study aims to examine problems in dynamic car-pooling systems and propose practical solutions. While several determinants of car-pooling have been reported in the literature, much less is known about the barriers and problems of dynamic real-time car-pooling systems: what constitute as main barriers for dynamic car-pooling, what is the nature of these barriers, and where do these barriers come from. By categorizing general car-pooling problems through literature review, this study identifies key issues and gaps that have not been studied or have not been studied in depth. Then, this study analyzes current barriers to successful and sustainable dynamic car-pooling systems from various perspectives through interviews. The result shows that the future for dynamic car-pooling is challenging, needing not only technical and financial solutions, but also user-studies focusing on travel behavior to achieve a greater success.