Ride-sharing platforms have revitalized society, but they have also introduced many unprecedented governance conundrums. The cooperative governance mode in which multiple agents participate has been suggested as a regulation paradigm for sharing platforms. However, the perception through which government regulation affects governance intention to mobile-based transportation platforms stays typically unclear. This study examines how the perception of ride-hailing drivers on governance participation intention when acknowledged with regulation policy and regulatory events. We collected actual data on ride-hailing drivers through interviews (n=20) and questionnaire surveys (n=375) with ride-sharing platform drivers in China. Empirical results show that the perceived government regulation, perceived risks, and perceived values influence governance participation intention, and the network externality and government regulatory events have a partial positive moderating effect. Our results suggest that governments should break the state-centrist bias that treats informal subjects in platform governance as passive “participants,” release the signal of increasing the formal position of drivers by advancing policy content, and encourage the drivers' engagement in regulation practice.

Master's Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Business economics, grade: 1,7, University of Cologne (Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences), language: English, abstract: How should ride-sharing platforms be regulated? The main aim of this master thesis is to provide a framework for regulators, that helps to create an appropriate regulation for ride-sharing platforms in countries like Germany where ride-sharing platforms are currently banned. To achieve that, the main differences between the conventional taxi industry and its new sharing economy entrants are outlined, and a questionnaire is used to empirically identify advantages as well as disadvantages of ride-sharing platforms. Based on these results and on the related literature, new regulatory approaches are developed. With the rise of the internet came the rise of the sharing economy. This sharing economy is characterized by platforms which enable peers to share products and services with other peers. Hereby, these platforms are criticised to disrupt traditional industries. One famous example is the ride-sharing platform Uber which entered the taxi market and competes with conventional taxi organisations. Uber was founded in 2009 and experienced an enormous growth since then. Uber is available in 65 countries, is used by 75 million riders and 3 million drivers, and completes 15 million rides per day. However, Uber is heavily criticised by taxi drivers because they argue that Uber bypasses local licensing and safety laws and amounts to unfair competition. There are many protests by taxi drivers against Uber all over the world. In addition, Uber is criticized for being not safe. For example, the public awareness campaign `Who ́s driving you?` promotes for-hire vehicle safety and provides a list of safety incidents highlighting the risks of Uber and Lyft. Nevertheless, ride-sharing platforms like Uber offer several advantages to the public, for example user-friendly ride-hailing, cheaper transport prices, and new flexible job opportunities.

There has been nascent litigation around the world on the employment classification of workers in the 'sharing economy', 'gig economy' or 'on demand economy'. New business models and forms of work organization arising from rapid advancements in digital technologies (or 'disruptive innovation' as some have described the phenomenon) have sparked considerable debate on a wide array of regulatory issues, including the role of labour law protections for the emergent 'digital workforce'. This debate is currently taking place in the People's Republic of China. This paper analyses how Chinese courts and lawmakers have addressed issues that are directly or indirectly relevant to determining the status of drivers in the ride-hailing sector. Despite the presence of criteria for identifying a 'labour relationship' under Chinese labour law, the courts have not adopted a uniform approach across different types of claims involving these drivers. A new government regulation on the ride-hailing sector, which took effect in November 2016, has not resolved this issue as it permits ride-hailing platform companies to enter into labour contracts and other forms of agreements with drivers based on the particularities of their work arrangements. In considering these recent cases and regulatory developments, the paper concludes that a purposive approach to the existing criteria in Chinese labour law for ascertaining the status of workers in the sharing economy is useful for addressing the basic question of whether they should be protected, rather than creating 'new' categories of employment classification.

Chicago's mobility landscape has undergone transformative change in recent years, and the future of the urban transportation system is uncertain as we recover from COVID-19. In the establishment of a post-pandemic normal, transit agencies and policymakers will need to continually evaluate the intended and unintended consequences of policy interventions, understand the behaviors and intentions of their riders, and assess their relationship with other modes of transportation. This thesis identifies analysis processes and provides practical examples for performing all these functions.

In the past decade transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft have replaced, supplemented, and disrupted traditional modes of transportation. The rapid growth of these companies makes equitable access to their platforms an issue that is simply too big to ignore. Indeed, these ridehailing services have the potential extend an ugly legacy of discrimination in transportation services, or to deliver a more equitable mobility system for future generations. In this vein, prior studies have provided evidence of discrimination between drivers and passengers in the context of ridehailing. This thesis extends research in three important ways. First, this thesis investigates rider-to-rider discriminatory attitudes in the context of dynamic ridesharing. To that end, this thesis uses data from a survey of 1,110 TNC users to argue that discriminatory attitudes toward fellow passengers of differing class and race are positively correlated with demographic and environmental characteristics, as well as one's generic social dominance orientation. Second, this thesis uses a second national survey of TNC users (n=1,113) to argue that the advent of autonomous ridesharing will exacerbate discriminatory attitudes toward fellow passengers in shared rides. What’s more, this effect will be particularly acute with regard autonomous ridesharing with passengers of a different gender. Finally, this thesis proposes fourteen regulations and platform design interventions to prevent and mitigate possible discrimination in ridehailing and ridesharing. These interventions are vetted through a survey of national experts in ridehailing policy and design. Of these interventions, this thesis calls for additional data reporting requirements and a series of changes to TNC star rating systems.

The rise of technology-en ...

This book offers comprehensive state-of-the-art knowledge of how ride-hailing applications (RHAs) are changing the landscape of urban mobility in developing Southeast Asia by examining the disruptions they cause, the impacts of RHAs on the transportation system, and public policy responses aimed at mitigating these impacts. Providing new perspectives on the familiar issues by taking the local contexts of middle-income SEA into account, where abundant and diverse modes of informal transportation thrive amidst rapid urbanization and motorization, the book also draws lessons based on empirical evidence on how public interventions can benefit urban mobility for other developing countries. Each city-specific chapter sets the stage by overviewing the city and its transportation system, and delves into the specifics of its RHA market, such as market structure and demand characteristics. Impacts of RHAs on other transportation operators as well as responses from affected parties are discussed, followed by the ensuing regulatory efforts and their outcomes. Findings from each city are internationally compared and lessons drawn from them that are useful for policymaking. The book will present insights into useful and effective policy interventions pertaining to RHAs, including how the new technology may affect the infrastructure investment decision and how RHA may be leveraged as an intervention tool in urban mobility in developing countries. Digital Transport Platforms and Urban Mobility provides academics and upper level students with in-depth knowledge and practices of the disruptive technology in urban transportation due to the advent of mobile ride-hailing applications in Southeast Asian countries. It will be an invaluable resource for all those interested in transportation planning and policy, urban and regional planning, with a particular emphasis on sustainability.