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Examining Effects of New Pricing Option on Shared Micromobility Use in the Living Lab of Davis, California - Shared micromobility services have the potential to provide affordable mobility options to communities and access to public transit modes. However, the operation of shared micromobility by private companies has challenges related to profitability and service sustainability. The sudden suspension of these services during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of such systems. Losing these services reduces opportunities to access final destinations and transit facilities, exacerbating mobility disparities particularly for residents without personal vehicles or bikes. To address these concerns, cities and operators need to carefully determine pricing strategies to ensure affordability while maintaining service.
With the recent re-introduction of shared micromobility services by SPIN in Davis, California in Fall 2023, the city has witnessed increased fleet distribution compared to the previous shared micromobility operator. However, the level of daily users has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. We hypothesize that the new pricing schemes are likely the strongest contributing factor to lower service use. In a stated preference format, we surveyed UC Davis campus commuters, including both those who had used the SPIN service and those who had not, about their prospective behavioral change if new pricing options (flat-rates per trip and long-term membership) were offered. This survey was included as a part of the UC Davis Campus Travel Survey which collects a variety of travel data on an annual basis. In Fall 2024, SPIN launched an experimental trial with new pricing plans, allowing us to obtain revealed preference system data. SPIN set up two different time caps (15min and 25min) and three flat-rate pricing plans ($1.75, $2.50, $3.25). They assigned 194 users into each of the six treatment groups and we conducted a post-trial survey targeting trial participants to understand their awareness of the new pricing option and their service experience. Leveraging these datasets, we examined the effects of new pricing options on frequency of use.
Our preliminary analysis of the Campus Travel Survey reveals that UC Davis campus travelers who have used the SPIN service in Davis exhibit a stronger preference for the flat-rate plan over the existing "Pay as you go" (unlock fee + per minute rate) plan. Conversely, only a small fraction of individuals who have never used the SPIN service in Davis expressed interest in the flat-rate plan. However, revealed preference data from the pricing experiment showed no significant impact of flat-rate pricing on frequency of service use, with only a minimal proportion of users in the treatment groups opting for the flat-rate plan at least once. We observed that many participants in the treatment groups (those that received a flat-rate pricing option) consistently chose more expensive pricing options during the intervention period. These findings imply that users may either be unaware of the new pricing option due to insufficient communication or may be less inclined to change their decision-making behavior after adopting the service. Our post-trial survey with 28 responses showed that 32% of participants were not aware of the trial. Further research is recommended to understand why users do not choose the lowest cost option for their use case.
