The impact of ride-hailing services on traditional travel modes: an empirical study based on the validity of Chinese ride-hailing regulatory policy

Ride-hailing regulatory policy first clarifies the legal status of ride-hailing services and establishes an access framework to standardize their operations. Subsequently, local governments implement differentiated enforcement rules based on this framework, laying a solid foundation for the healthy development of China’s ride-hailing industry. However, it is necessary to further evaluate whether this policy changes the impact of ride-hailing services on traditional travel modes. This study focuses on 72 Chinese cities (40 of which introduced ride-hailing and 45 of which implemented policy) between 2010 and 2017, selecting bus ridership and private car ownership as measures of traditional travel modes, using difference-in-differences (DID) and difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) methods, and exploring the impacts of ride-hailing services on traditional travel modes before and after regulatory policy. The results reveal that (1) before the regulatory policy implementation, the entry of ride-hailing services significantly decreases bus ridership but has no significant negative impact on private car ownership; (2) the regulatory policy implementation significantly mitigates the negative impact of ride-hailing services on bus ridership and private car ownership; and (3) the loose policy is significantly effective in alleviating the negative impacts of ride-hailing services on bus ridership and private car ownership. The research results have important implications for the Chinese government in regulating emerging transportation modes in urban areas.