Analysis of job accessibility promoted by ride hailing services: A proposed method

The concept of accessibility as an element of the interaction between land use and transportation is widely applied in studies of urban mobility. The idea that the accessibility of a place can be measured by the variety and quantity of opportunities available at the destination has led to the creation and adaptation of various indicators. The new mode of transport known as ride hailing (RH) has grown in recent years throughout the world, making it necessary to evaluate its impact on modern society, mainly its interaction with other modes. Therefore, this article presents a method to calculate the accessibility of formal jobs generated by public transportation (PT) and RH, to compare the results. For this purpose, we made adaptations to two indicators commonly used in the literature: the Gini index combined with the Lorenz curve; and the location quotient (LQ). The integrated structure is demonstrated in the context of a case study conducted in four districts of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. By applying the proposed method, we found that in regions with high commercial concentration and number of jobs, with the fares charged in the city, the accessibility to formal jobs generated by RH is greater than that associated with PT when more than two passengers travel together. This information on the competition or complementarity of the two modes can be useful to make decisions for regulation of the transport sector in general, and ride hailing in particular.