ESI was hired by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in 2016 to assess the possible risks and opportunities faced in the new competitive landscape of ridesharing. While Transportation Network Companies (TNC’s) potentially pose a fundamental risk to SEPTA’s business model, their presence also offers vast opportunities for mutual gain where ridesharing’s influence may help turn some proportion of personal vehicle users into more willing multi-modal travelers, yielding opportunities to draw these consumers into transit usage.
ESI’s analysis represents a first step in understanding the full (and evolving) implications of ridesharing’s entry into the transportation market. This report identified a variety of areas where further inquiry and monitoring can help to inform SEPTA’s strategic direction and help position the agency in the evolving competitive landscape, including: