Is Car-Sharing Really Cheaper? An Analysis Based on Cost Competition Between Car-Sharing and Taxis

Abstract

The widespread adoption of car-sharing has squeezed the market space of existing transportation modes. As similar transportation services, the market competition between car-sharing and taxis warrants significant attention. Current research examining their competitive advantage from a cost structure perspective often overlooks complex factors such as user preferences, multiple pricing models, and diverse application scenarios. This study utilizes Beijing taxi order records and GPS trajectory data. Applying a real-data-driven Monte Carlo method, it provides a more precise prediction and analysis of the competitive advantage between car-sharing and taxis across multiple travel scenarios under varying user preferences. Particularly, this paper includes the time cost of walking and bike-sharing connections when measuring the travel cost of car-sharing, and explores the travel cost advantages among car-sharing companies by selecting four car-sharing pricing methods. Our study found that overall car-sharing does offer some travel cost advantages over taxis. The advantages of car-sharing in specific scenarios such as peak periods, medium and long-distance trips, and recreational trips are significant, and the travel cost of car-sharing is about 15.76% lower than that of taxis, on average, while taxis only have a more significant travel cost advantage for short trips. This study is expected to provide guidance for the coordinated development of car-sharing and taxis.