Dynamic ridesharing: Is there a role for dedicated drivers?

• Pricing issues: We explore models for the pricing and use of dedicated drivers.
• Ride sharing heuristic: We design a heuristic tailored to this problem.
• Use of dedicated drivers: We show when these drivers should be used.
• Network effects: We investigate different network characteristics.
• Relevancy to industry: This paper could inform commercial ride sharing operators.

Growing congestion is a problem faced by cities around the world. Traditional solutions considered include new capital works to increase network capacity and expanding public transport offerings to make public transport more attractive. Dynamic ridesharing is a recent alternative in which people with similar travel plans are matched and travel together. Dynamic ridesharing requires no new network infrastructure and offers more convenience than public transport. The (long-term) success of ridesharing schemes, however, depends on their ability to attract a large number of users. We investigate the benefits, complexities, and costs of employing a small number of dedicated drivers to serve riders who would otherwise remain unmatched. An extensive computational study demonstrates the potential benefits of dedicated drivers and identifies environments in which dedicated drivers are most useful.