Abstract Online ride-splitting has rapidly evolved worldwide, providing new means to enhance the efficiency of urban travel and reduce the number of vehicles and traffic congestion. While ride-splitting is currently believed to improve vehicle occupancy rates and decrease total travel distances, passengers may perceive it as resulting in additional travel due to ride sharing. To gain a more intuitive understanding of the current operations of ride-splitting, this study delves into carpooling behavior and analyzes its relative impact using GPS trajectory data from DiDi Chuxing in Chengdu, China. The investigation focuses on the behavior of ride-splitting and examines its relative impact based on disparities in total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and travel duration between ride-splitting traveling (RST) and corresponding separated traveling (ST), aiming to estimate the effect of RST on urban mobility. Following are the three main findings of this study: (a) The existing operation of RST induces 7%–10% extra VMT and 20%–35% extra duration for RST users; (b) The RST achieves 30%–35% VMT and 10%–20% duration saving for drivers who are willing to provide RST service; (c) The RST saves up to 10% VMT and duration varying by time in a day. This paper offers some insights to quantify the current impact of RST and evaluate the orientation of mobility service quality improvement.

Highlights • Introducing a novel approach to analyzing ride-splitting behaviors. • By leveraging rich GPS data, the research provides a comprehensive analysis of ride-splitting behaviors. • Identifying key limitations, including low ride-splitting rates, prompting future research directions to address this issue. • Providing valuable suggestions and emphasizing the integration of psychological perception benefits.