IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jotrge/v125y2025ics0966692325001048.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spatial-temporal insights into gender gaps in East Asian ride-hailing: Workload, efficiency, nighttime safety, and operational patterns

Author

Listed:
  • Zhuang, Chutian
  • Gu, Tianqi
  • Chung, Hyungchul
  • Zhu, Muyi
  • Yonto, Daniel

Abstract

This study investigates gender differences in the operational strategies of ride-hailing drivers in Suzhou, China, using identity-confirmed trip data from October 2023. Four novel operational metrics (workload, earning capacity, operational efficiency, and willingness to work far from home) were developed to quantify gender-based operational preferences between male drivers and female drivers, who were further divided into age groups. The Geographically Weighted Random Forest (GWRF) model was applied to examine spatial correlations with socioeconomic and built environment factors in order to understand the spatial and temporal preferences of the drivers. Statistics reveal only 5 % of the drivers are female and within that fewer (5 %) are young female drivers. Spatial-temporal analysis indicated that female drivers generally work shorter distances, earn less, and prioritize trips closer to home, which may be influenced by family caregiving responsibilities, but exhibit similar operational efficiency (indicated by revenue per hour) as male drivers under comparable demand conditions. Age gaps are further observed among female drivers: senior female drivers worked significantly longer during holidays but avoided nighttime operations similarly to younger females, reflecting the former group's heavier financial burdens related to family responsibilities and shared safety concerns with the latter. The results of GWRF show little impact of street safety on daytime pick-up locations across genders which is different than Western contexts. However, nighttime spatial preferences significantly differ among younger female drivers compared to older and male drivers, reflecting higher safety concerns. These insights inform platform operators to prioritize order allocation near female drivers' residences and improve safety measures, thereby supporting gender equity and inclusivity at a government level.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhuang, Chutian & Gu, Tianqi & Chung, Hyungchul & Zhu, Muyi & Yonto, Daniel, 2025. "Spatial-temporal insights into gender gaps in East Asian ride-hailing: Workload, efficiency, nighttime safety, and operational patterns," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:125:y:2025:i:c:s0966692325001048
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2025.104213
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692325001048
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2025.104213?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:125:y:2025:i:c:s0966692325001048. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-transport-geography .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.