Shared Travel: Based on the latest survey by British consultancy Juniper Research, Cities Today magazine reported last week (17) that spending on shared travel by consumers should reach the figure of US$ 937 billion in 2026. According to consultants from the company. business intelligence, the figure corresponds to 50 times the combined revenues of the London, New York and Beijing subways in 2021.
The research highlights the need to create government policies aimed at reducing the use of private vehicles in large cities, through the use of public transport in multimodal trips. According to the study, consumers in the United States and China will lead the world market for travel-sharing services, with a 65% share of the sector’s revenues in 2026.
For lead author of the survey called “Travel Sharing: Value Chain Analysis, Market Size, and 2021-2026 Forecasts”, Adam Wears, “our research predicts that this significant growth in spending will occur, in part, as a result of usage shared trips in conjunction with public transport”. Speaking to Cities Today, the author explained that this result would come from the introduction of the multimodal element.
And what will happen to single occupancy trips?
Regarding single occupancy trips, which can represent yet another unwanted form of emission of pollutants, Wears warns that, despite the growth of shared travel services in 2026, only 13% of consumers will opt for the free ride mode.
As a reflection of the covid-19 pandemic, the rest of consumers will opt for single-occupancy travel, showing that most users are willing to pay more just for the privilege of traveling alone. To get around this trend, the research suggests that platforms use non-financial incentives to drive the adoption of carpool services to encourage the free-rider culture.
