Research on Ride-hailing Pricing Strategies

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Abstract

Compared to traditional public transport, ride-hailing makes it possible for people to get a more comfortable and faster riding experience with a higher fare. Ride-sharing fall in between the two, offering a discount at the price level of ride-hailing, yet operates with more detours and less comfortable experience. In this study, with different price levels for ride-hailing and discount rates for ride-sharing, we would like to examine the system performance of co-existence of ride-hailing, ride-sharing and public transport services. We would also like to search for an optimal solution for the ride-hailing & ride-sharing company to maximize its profit. We apply ExMAS, an open-source agent-based model for ride-sharing simulation, to simulate passengers' and vehicles' behavior on a microscopic level, and acquire numbers of results. Based on our model, in the case of Amsterdam, when price level is 1.1 euro/km and discount rate is 0.4, the company could enjoy maximum profit and market share. It is also found that, when price level gets higher more people opt for the competitive mode instead, resulting in the overall profit falling significantly.