Abstract
For much of the twentieth century, the economies of Canada and the United States have increasingly focused on service provision. During this same time period, cities have grown into expansive urban regions characterized by dispersed workplaces complemented by a wide array of commuting patterns, dominated by single occupancy vehicle use. This study aims to understand how service worker engagement with an Internet-based carpool formation software, known as Carpool Zone, and workplace transport policies, jointly enable carpool formation and use. The piece also explores the question of difference in carpool formation between female and male service workers. The study area is the Greater Golden Horseshoe, Canada’s largest metropolitan region. Data were drawn from Carpool Zone and a 2007 survey of commuter satisfaction. Extending past work, logistic regression analysis clarifies the importance of specific workplace policies, enacted within suburban firms, to the carpool formation process, including: provision of carpool spaces and availability of an emergency ride home service. The findings indicate that the Internet may not be enough, powerful enabling tools should be situated within expert networks of human capital developed to ameliorate the negative effects of commuting.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Benkler, Y.: Sharing nicely: on shareable goods and the emergence of sharing as a modality of economic production. Yale Law J. 114, 273–358 (2004)
Brunso, J.M., Hartgen, D.T.: Can employer-based carpool coordinators increase ridesharing? Transp. Res. Rec. 823, 45–50 (1981)
Buliung, R., Hernandez, T.: Places to shop and places to grow: power retail, consumer travel behaviour, and urban growth management in the greater Toronto area. NEPTIS Foundation, Toronto (2009)
Buliung, R.N., Soltys, K., Habel, C., Lanyon, R.: The “driving” factors behind successful carpool formation and use. Transp. Res. Rec. 2118, 31–38 (2009)
Buliung, R.N., Soltys, K., Bui, R., Habel, C., Lanyon, R.: Catching a ride on the information super-highway: toward an understanding of Internet-based carpool formation and use. Transportation 37, 849–873 (2010)
Bureau of Transport Statistics (BTS). Dictionary. http://www.bts.gov/dictionary/index.xml (2010). Accessed 20 Dec 2010
Cervero, R., Griesenbeck, B.: Factors influencing commuting choices in suburban labor markets: a case analysis of Pleasanton, California. Transp. Res. Part A 22, 151–161 (1988)
Crane, R.: Is there a quiet revolution in women’s travel? Revisiting the gender gap in commuting. J. Am. Plann. Assoc. 73, 298–316 (2007)
Data Management Group (DMG): 2006, 2001, 1996 and 1986 Travel survey summaries for the greater Toronto and Hamilton area. Department of civil engineering. University of Toronto, Toronto (2008)
Dicken, P.: Global shift: mapping the changing contours of the world economy 5th ed. The Guilford Press, New York (2007)
Doucet, M.J.: Mass transit and the failure of private ownership: the case of Toronto in the early twentieth century. Urban Hist. Rev. 6, 3–33 (1978)
Ellaway, A., Macintyre, S., Hiscock, R., Kearns, A.: In the driving seat: psychosocial benefits from private motor vehicle transport compared to public transport. Transp. Res. Part F 6, 217–231 (2003)
England, K.V.L.: Suburban pink collar Ghettos: The spatial entrapment of women? Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr. 83, 225–242 (1993)
Ferguson, E.: The influence of employer ridesharing programs on employee mode choice. Transportation 17, 179–207 (1990)
Ferguson, E.: The rise and fall of the American carpool: 1970–1990. Transportation 24, 349–376 (1997)
Horowitz, A., Sheth, J.: Ridesharing to work: an attitudinal analysis. Transp. Res. Rec. 637, 1–8 (1978)
Industry Canada. GDP Services-Producing Industries (NAICS 41-91) http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cis-sic.nsf/eng/h_00019.html#gdp2a (2010). Accessed 20 Dec 2010
Johnston-Anumonwo, I.: The influence of household type on gender differences in work trip distance. Prof. Geogr. 44, 161–169 (1992)
Kaufman, S.: Why people (don’t) carpool and change for the better: a social capital framework for investigating environmental behaviour. Presented at the 2nd national conference of sustainable campuses, RMIT, Melbourne (2002)
Kogan, M.: Slugs and body snatchers. Government Executive.com. http://www.govexec.com/features/0697s4.htm (1997). Accessed 20 Dec 2010
Levin, I.: Measuring tradeoffs in carpool driving arrangement preferences. Transportation 11, 71–85 (1982)
Meyers, L., Gamst, G., Guarino, A.J.: Applied multivariate research design and interpretation. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (2006)
Ministry of public infrastructure renewal (MPIR). Province of Ontario. Places to grow, better choices. Brighter future: growth plan for the greater golden horseshoe 2006. www.placestogrow.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9&Itemid=14 (2006). Accessed 20 Dec 2010
Morency, C.: The ambivalence of ridesharing. Transportation 34, 239–253 (2007)
Organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD). OECD territorial reviews: Toronto, Canada. http://www.oecd.org/document/1/0,3343,en_2649_34413_43985281_1_1_1_1,00.html (2010). Accessed 20 Dec 2010
Ozanne, L., Mollenkopf, D.: Understanding consumer intentions to carpool: a test of alternative models. In: Proceedings of the 1999 annual meeting of the Australian & New Zealand Marketing Academy. smib.vuw.ac.nz:8081/www/ANZMAC1999/Site/O/Ozanne.pdf (2009). Accessed 20 Dec 2010
Pisarski, A.: Commuting in America III, The third national report on commuting patterns and trends. NCHRP Report 550, TCRP Report 110, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC (2006)
Poulenez-Donovan, C.J., Ulberg, C.: Seeing the trees and missing the forest: qualitative versus quantitative research findings in a model transportation demand management program evaluation. Transp. Res. Rec. 1459, 1–6 (1994)
Pratt, E.: Industrial causes of congestion and pollution in New York City. Columbia University Press, New York (1911)
Richardson, A.J., Young, W.: Spatial relationships between carpool members’ trip ends. Transp. Res. Rec. 823, 1–7 (1981)
Rutherford, G.S., Badgett, S.I., Ishimaru, J.M., MacLachlan, S.: Transportation demand management: case studies of medium-sized employers. Transp. Res. Rec. 1459, 7–16 (1994)
Salomon, I.: Telecommunications and travel relationships: a review. Trans. Res. Part A 3, 223–238 (1986)
Shearmur, R., Coffey, W.J.: A tale of four cities: intrametropolitan employment distribution in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa-Hull, 1981–1996. Environ. Plan. A 34, 575–598 (2002)
Statistics Canada: Where Canadians work and how they get there. Census Analysis Series Catalogue No. 96F0030XIE2001010. Statistics Canada, Ottawa (2001)
Statistics Canada: Time spent on various activities by sex. General social survey, 2005, Catalogue No. 12F0080XWE (2005)
Statistics Canada: 2006 Census of Canada. Statistics Canada, Ottawa (2006)
Statistics Canada: Commuting patterns and places of work of Canadians, 2006 Census. www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/analysis/pow/index.cfm (2008). Accessed 20 Dec 2010
Statistics Canada: Business, consumer and property services. http://www41.statcan.gc.ca/2009/0163/cybac0163_000-eng.htm (2009a). Accessed 20 Dec 2010
Statistics Canada: Experienced labour force 15 years and over by industry, by census metropolitan areas (2006 Census) http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/labr87c-eng.htm (2009b). Accessed 20 Dec 2010
Statistics Canada: CANSIM II Series, Table number 203007. Survey of household spending (SHS), household spending on transportation, by province and territory, annually. http://datacentre.chass.utoronto.ca.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cansimdim/c2_getArrayDim.pl?a=2030007 (2010a). Accessed 5 Jan 2011
Statistics Canada: CANSIM II Series V735062, Table number 3260009. Average retail prices for gasoline and fuel oil, urban centre, monthly (Cents per litre). http://datacentre.chass.utoronto.ca.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cansimdim/c2_seriesCart.pl (2010b). Accessed 5 Jan 2011
Steg, L.: Car use: lust and must. Instrumental, symbolic and affective motives for car use. Transp. Res. Part A 39, 147–162 (2005)
Teal, R.: Carpooling: who, how and why. Transp. Res. Part A 21, 203–214 (1987)
Tischer, M.L., Dobson, R.: An empirical analysis of behavioral intentions of single-occupant auto drivers to shit to high occupancy vehicles. Transp. Res. Part A 13, 143–158 (1979)
Transport Canada: The cost of urban congestion in Canada. Transport Canada Environmental Affairs, Toronto (2006)
Turner, T., Niemeier, D.: Travel to work and household responsibility: new evidence. Transportation 24, 397–419 (1997)
Winn, JR.: An analysis of casual carpool passenger behavior in Houston, Texas. Master of Science, Texas A&M University. repositories.tdl.org/tdl/handle/1969.1/2319 (2005). Accessed 20 Dec 2010
Worton, D.A.: The service industries in Canada, 1946–66. In: Fuchs, V.R. (ed.) Production and productivity in service industries, pp 237–286. UMI, Cambridge Mass (1969)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Buliung, R.N., Bui, R. & Lanyon, R. When the internet is not enough: toward an understanding of carpool services for service workers. Transportation 39, 877–893 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-011-9384-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-011-9384-3