ANALYSIS OF RIDEHAILING REGULATION THROUGH MIXED METHODS APPROACH AND SOCIAL PRACTICE THEORY

Abstract

In the modern age of Ubers, Lyfts and Grabs, the private hire or ride-hailing industry has taken over the globe by storm, especially in the last six years with its descent into the Asian markets. The city state of Singapore, one of the champions of commendable public transit, has also seen the arrival and sizeable impact of ride-hailing or private hire. The introduction and subsequent effects of ride-hailing in Singapore is evaluated with inferences drawn from the parameters of the city state that allow for the phenomenon. Through Singapore, the policy derivatives of the private hire model are analyzed. The specific factors that contributed to the rapid growth of the industry are studied. The principles of Social Practice Theory are utilized using Shove’s 3-element model of Materials, Meanings and Competences for analyzing the framework for the regulatory guidelines for ride-hailing in Singapore. The 3-elements model was also used to evaluate the policy differentiation between taxis and private hire, two industries that have accused each other of cannibalization. Field experts and stakeholders were identified and interviewed in detail for directional validation and framework construction. Fine-level coding was used to analyze the interview data. A mixed methods approach aided by statistical methods and transport geographic visualization analysis (GIS) is applied for trip data analysis in the research process. A driver expenditure analysis supported by a driver survey showed startling similarities between earnings of drivers in Singapore and the U.S. The study is the first of its kind in the world and will be a great reference for policy makers and academics alike on a technocratic methodology of drafting regulatory guidelines for private hire and even other transport avenues. The output is an 18-pillar draft regulatory guideline for private hire from the perspective of Singapore providing a technically sound legislative document. The methodology could be duplicated for any city around the globe.