ABSTRACT
Long-distance mobility has been disrupted, particularly in Europe, by carpooling digital platforms such as BlaBlaCar. These platforms connect drivers with riders interested in traveling to another location. The platform aggregates supply and demand and algorithms match them. This is one of the best examples of the so-called sharing economy. Idle assets such as empty seats in a car can be commercialized. It has been identified that these platforms have a substitution effect on collective transport services such as railways and coaches. Most riders and even a fair share of drivers would have traveled by railway or coach had BlaBlaCar not been available. As a consequence, more passenger-km are traveled by car than before.
