National Ridesharing Demonstration Program: Home-End Ridesharing in Lincoln, NE
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Summary
This report evaluates the Lincoln Home-End Ridesharing Demonstration Project, conducted in Lincoln, Nebraska, between May 1980 and July 1982. Funded by the National Ridesharing Demonstration Program, the study aimed to determine whether personalized, neighborhood-based interventions could increase the use of alternative travel modes (carpooling, transit, walking, and bicycling) among residents, thereby reducing reliance on single-occupancy vehicles. The project specifically tested whether direct personal assistance from neighborhood ridesharing agents was more effective than traditional, anonymous matching services in changing travel behavior. The demonstration targeted three distinct neighborhoods: Bethany (an older, established area), Colonial Hills (a newer, peripheral community), and Fairfield Park (a newly developing low-income area). The intervention involved a three-phase approach: selecting neighborhoods, canvassing residents to develop transportation profiles, and implementing customized Transportation Action Plans. Key activities included personalized matching for school trips, a holiday shopper shuttle, and face-to-face assistance from part-time ridesharing agents. The evaluation methodology compared survey data from residents in these demonstration neighborhoods against a control group comprising the rest of Lincoln. The analysis examined mode splits, self-reported assistance, and the impact of personalized attention on travel choices. The findings indicated mixed results. Overall, the proportion of trips made by carpool or alternative modes in the demonstration neighborhoods (51%) was nearly identical to the city-wide average (50%). However, carpooling for work trips increased in Bethany and Colonial Hills; for instance, work carpooling in Colonial Hills rose from 22% to 26%, though the report notes that exogenous factors may have contributed to this change. Mode use varied significantly by neighborhood, ranging from 45.9% in Bethany to 63.9% in Colonial Hills, likely due to local characteristics such as Colonial Hills’ isolation and higher resident concern regarding transportation. Crucially, the evaluation found no evidence that personalized visits by agents significantly influenced travel behavior compared to the control group. Interestingly, residents who reported receiving no help from the project actually used alternative modes more frequently than those who reported receiving help, suggesting that individuals who successfully changed their behavior were more likely to attribute it to the project. The study concludes that while the demonstration did not produce a statistically significant increase in alternative mode use across all test areas compared to the control group, the efficacy of personalized services was not fully tested. The authors argue that face-to-face interventions should not be dismissed as failures but require further evaluation. The report highlights that neighborhood-specific factors, such as isolation and community awareness, play a critical role in ridesharing adoption, implying that future programs must tailor strategies to local socio-economic and geographic contexts rather than applying uniform approaches.
Key finding
Overall carpooling and alternative mode use in the demonstration neighborhoods was 51%, which was statistically similar to the 50% rate observed in the rest of Lincoln.
Methodology
field_study
Sample size: 600
Provenance
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | rosap | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-23 |
| archive | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
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| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 24 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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- Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation