Ride-sharing: A potential means to increase the quality and availability of motorised trips while discouraging private motor ownership in developing cities?

Abstract Ride-sharing, although much older than many may think, has recently made a comeback through internet and smartphone (hailing) technology. The literature does not provide consensus regarding the (dis)benefits of ride-sharing. Furthermore, the limited number of studies identified are examples from the developed world, which are not necessarily transferable to the developing world context. This paper estimates the potential for ride-sharing in Cape Town and its economic, social and environmental impacts. It was found that there were various potential ride-share markets. There are low-income households that are unlikely to own a car anytime soon. These households are potential users for ad-hoc trips that are currently dormant. Furthermore, there is a growing amount of people that omit using their own vehicle, but rather use ride-share services. In the long-term, this group might even give up the private vehicle. For low-income households, the ride-share services mostly address a social need, where the potential impacts for high-income households are economic and environmental. The paper concludes with a systematic scoring of four modes on all economic, social and environmental issues, resulting in non-motorised transport and ride-share being positive, while private car and public transport are negative, in the developing world context.