Shared mobility beyond urban limits: Insights on usage in two rural towns in Austria

Abstract

Today, shared mobility has been widely introduced and promoted in urban areas as an alternative solution for more sustainable travel. At the same time, the potential of shared mobility in smaller cities and rural areas, where the majority of people live and oftentimes, have a car-dependent lifestyle, is still largely unexplored. Benefiting from a series of deployments of shared mobility services in two Austrian rural towns, this study examined the usage, user satisfaction and reasons for non-usage among the residents, commuters and visitors. Determinants of usage were identified applying binary logistic regression modelling. Results show that older adults, females and participants with higher mobility expenses are less likely to use shared mobility, whereas the availability of a second car increases usage likelihood. Against common believe, the study suggests that the influence of the rural town context on shared mobility usage may be less explicit than expected, and in general the users were influenced by similar socio-demographic and mobility factors that have been identified in large cities.

Keywords

• Shared mobility
• Rural towns
• Usage
• Travel behavior
• Public transportation