Although ridematching is one of the most widely used transportation demand management strategies, little information has been gathered about the characteristics and effectiveness of the systems used to provide the service. A nationwide survey of 84 ridematching systems was conducted in spring 1990. The systems are described with respect to five components: information storage, matching techniques, information dissemination, data base maintenance, and evaluation. The components are compared with the effectiveness of the systems in an attempt to identify cause-and-effect relationships. Program effectiveness is measured by the percentage of commuters using the service who successfully find alternative commuting arrangements through the program. A surprisingly small number of organizations, 27 of 84, monitored placement. Seven program characteristics are compared with placement. Positive but weak relationships were identified between placement and data base size, level of automation, matchlist delivery, and follow-up activities. Parking supply, commute distance, and otherelements of the commute environment may have a stronger effect on placement than ridematching system characteristics. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1321, Rideshare programs: evaluation of effectiveness, trip reduction programs, demand management, and commuter attitudes 1991.
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