How carpool drivers choose their passengers in Nanjing, China: effects of facial attractiveness and credit

Dawei Li (), Yuchen Song (), Dongjie Liu (), Qi Cao () and Junlan Chen ()
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Dawei Li: Southeast University
Yuchen Song: Southeast University
Dongjie Liu: Southeast University
Qi Cao: Southeast University
Junlan Chen: Southeast University

Transportation, 2023, vol. 50, issue 3, No 8, 929-958

Abstract: Abstract Carpooling, as an increasingly popular ridesharing service available in China, offers car access to those who do not own a private vehicle. However, disclosing passengers’ personal information to drivers, especially their photos and gender, may encourage facial discrimination or violent crimes. In this paper, we explore the passenger choice behavior of carpool drivers in China. A stated preference survey was designed to collect drivers’ choices. An ordered choice model considering drivers’ observed taste heterogeneity and random effects within panel data was employed to find the associations between passengers’ personal information and drivers’ choice behavior. Behavioral findings show that carpool drivers’ passenger choice behavior is significantly affected by not only the attributes that are trip specific, but also the characteristics of drivers and passengers, and the interactions among these characteristics. Value of facial attractiveness (VOFA) and value of credit (VOC) are both defined and calculated to show that the charges are less important to carpool drivers in China. We then discuss research questions in depth, i.e., the drivers’ purposes, the implications of drivers’ passenger choices on equality, operational suggestions, and the reflection of discrimination and risk problems on the management of Internet companies, the government regulatory system, and the social ethics concerns.

Keywords: Carpooling; Ordered choice model; Passenger choice behavior; Information provision; Privacy and equality issues (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s11116-022-10268-x

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