Ride-hailing as a safer transport option: Evidence from frequency of use and commuting choices in Brazil

Ride-hailing services have revolutionised urban mobility worldwide, but little is known about its usage in emerging economies, especially in Latin America. The current study contributes to this knowledge gap by investigating the socio-demographic, transport-related, and crime-related factors influencing the frequency of ride-hailing travel and its use for commuting purposes in Brazil. We use data from an online survey with 532 commuters to estimate a multivariate ordered probit model with three dependent variables: (a) the frequency of ride-hailing use, (b) ride-hailing adoption as the primary commute mode (i.e., ride-hailing commuters), and (c) whether commuting was the purpose of their most recent ride-hailing trip (i.e., ride-hailing as a ‘backup’ commute mode). The results suggest that frequent users and ride-hailing commuters are young (under 40), highly educated, and affluent; ride-hailing commuters tend to be wealthier than frequent ride-hailing users. Interestingly, income is not a significant predictor of occasional ride-hailing use for commuting, indicating that this service may be an affordable option for eventual commuting. We observe multi-modal behaviour among primary public transport commuters, as they are frequent ride-hailing users and/or use ride-hailing for the occasional commute. Importantly, we find that ride-hailing usage is higher in areas with high homicide rates and among women living in locations with higher incidence of sexual assault. Our results suggest that ride-hailing may be filling gaps in public transport systems that are unable to offer appropriate levels of service and emerge as a safer transport option in locations with crime issues. We discuss implications of our results regarding complex complementarity and substitution relationships between ride-hailing and sustainable travel modes, as well as on how violence may shape travel behaviour. • Ride-hailing emerge as a safer option in locations with public security issues. • Women in cities with high sexual assault rates prefer ride-hailing for commuting. • PT and active travel commuters more likely to be frequent ride-hailing users • PT commuters are prone to use ride-hailing as a ‘backup’ commute mode • Research needs on ride-hailing, sustainable transport, and public security links.