Possible Emission Reductions From Ride-Sourcing Travel in a Global Megacity: The Case of Beijing

Urban transportation in China is undergoing a revolution due to ride-sourcing. The strong growth in ride-sourcing travel requires the government and the industry to adopt strategies for reducing environmental impact. Here, we address a key gap in knowledge on the emerging ride-sourcing travel model by designing a roadmap for realizing low-emission ride-sourcing drawing from an analysis of raw big trip data for Beijing. We found that adopting the most effective low-emission strategies requires joint efforts involving governance and management, enterprise operations, and consumer behavior change. With respect to issues of feasibility and effectiveness, the enterprise operation strategy, involving polices that shorten the pick-up time and increase the vehicle occupancy, is the best option, offering approximately 44% CO₂ and NOx emission reductions compared with the current situation. Promoting ride-sourcing usage among car users or potential car users could help reduce emissions attributing to less cars being manufactured (26% CO₂ and 24% NOx) but with uncertainty. To achieve low-emission ride-sourcing travel, governments, enterprises, and consumers must collaborate closely and define clear roles, responsibilities, and relationships.