Holiday ride-hailing at intercity transfer hubs: Where space squeezes and time stretches

• Holiday ride-hailing shows temporal dispersion and spatial concentration patterns. • Ride-hailing bridges gaps in multimodal transport during holidays effectively. • Ride-hailing supports sustainability in areas with poor metro or bus coverage. • 30% of hub-to-hub ride-hailing trips replace metro due to second security checks. • Students drive a 200% rise in trips to universities on the final holiday day. This study explores the spatiotemporal characteristics of ride-hailing services at intercity transfer hubs in Suzhou, China, examining ride-hailing trip patterns across different land use types, focusing on holidays and regular days. An algorithm is proposed to identify the ride-hailing trips to or from the intercity transfer hubs. During holidays, ride-hailing trips cover longer distances and incur higher fares, with a significant increase in trips related to transportation, tourist areas, and land use for higher education. The spatiotemporal distribution of ride-hailing trips from intercity transfer hubs shows spatial concentration and temporal dispersion during holidays, in contrast to the spatial dispersion and temporal concentration observed on regular days. Specifically, holiday trips are more evenly distributed throughout the day, while regular days exhibit significant morning and evening peaks. It is also found that ride-hailing trips are predominantly concentrated in central business districts, residential areas, and commercial zones, with a noticeable increase in trips to tourist attractions and land use for education during holidays, peaking at the start and end of the holiday period. In contrast, regular days exhibit concentrated travel demand during peak hours, mainly driven by commuting needs. Furthermore, ride-hailing services play a crucial role in areas with limited metro coverage and inconvenient bus transfers, serving as a vital supplement to the urban public transportation system, especially during holidays when passengers often carry large luggage. It highlights a high demand for ride-hailing transfers between different intercity transfer hubs, especially between two local intercity transfer hubs, indicating the need for improved rapid transit connections.