Impacts of Subsidized Ridesharing on Drunk Driving, Alcohol Consumption, and Mobility
March 30, 2026 updated by: Christopher Morrison, Columbia University
The purpose of this research study is to understand people's alcohol use in public places and their risks for harm.
The overall goal of this study is to test the effects of subsidized ridesharing as an intervention to reduce self-reported alcohol-impaired driving, along with alcohol consumption and changes to mobility.
Study Overview
Status
Completed
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Detailed Description
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people aged 13-25 years in the US, and approximately 31% of all fatal crashes involved some alcohol use.
Several peer-reviewed studies have found that ridesharing was associated with fewer alcohol-involved crashes and DUI arrests.
Theories of behavioral economics provide a clear theoretical mechanism by which ridesharing will reduce alcohol-involved motor vehicle crashes compared to other private transportation.
However, while ridesharing may be an effective intervention to reduce alcohol-involved crashes, it may simultaneously increase alcohol consumption.
This study will assess the impacts of subsidized ridesharing on impaired driving, alcohol consumption, and mobility.
Participants will be randomized to either receive a rideshare voucher or an online shopping voucher, and effects on alcohol impaired driving and alcohol consumption will be measured.
A GPS sub-group will use a custom smartphone application for GPS tracking to measure mobility.
Study Type
Interventional
Enrollment (Actual)
7034
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.
Study Locations
-
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New York
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New York, New York, United States, 10032
- Columbia University Irving Medical Center
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-
Participation Criteria
Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
21 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- ≥ 21 years old
- Reside in a study city
- Have a driver's license
- Have access to a motor vehicle
- Have consumed alcohol in a bar in the last 30 days
- Own a smartphone
- Read English
Exclusion Criteria:
- Non-English speaking participants
Study Plan
This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Prevention
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: Single
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
|---|---|
|
Experimental: Intervention
Participants will be asked to complete 3 surveys over 2 weeks to collect in information on their alcohol use and about themselves, and receive ridesharing vouchers.
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Ridesharing vouchers will be given for completing each of the online surveys, for a possible total of $80 if you complete all three surveys.
You will be paid with electronic vouchers that will be sent to your cell phone.
Other Names:
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Sham Comparator: Control
Participants will be asked to complete 3 surveys over 2 weeks to collect in information on their alcohol use and about themselves, and receive online shopping voucher.
|
Online shopping vouchers will be given for completing each of the online surveys, for a possible total of $80 if you complete all three surveys.
You will be paid with electronic vouchers that will be sent to your cell phone.
Other Names:
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Number of Participants Involved in Alcohol Impaired Driving Incidents
Time Frame: At 1 week follow-up from baseline
|
Participants will provide two self-reported measures of impaired driving by indicating whether they "drove after drinking any alcohol" (driving after drinking) and "drove after drinking too much alcohol to drive safely" (driving while intoxicated) for each day during the previous 7 days.
Data is recorded at baseline and at 1 week follow-up.
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At 1 week follow-up from baseline
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Secondary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Change in Number of Days in Alcohol Consumption
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 week follow-up
|
Participants will be asked to state the number of drinks consumed on each day for the 7 previous days, and their responses will be used to calculate the frequency (defined as the number of drinking days) of drinking.
|
Baseline, 1 week follow-up
|
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Average Number of Trips to Alcohol Outlets
Time Frame: Day 3 to Day 17 of study
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Participants enrolled in the GPS sub-sample will be tracked and GPS records will be used to measure exposure to alcohol outlets and mobility.
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Day 3 to Day 17 of study
|
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Average Duration of Trips to Alcohol Outlets
Time Frame: Day 3 to Day 17 of study
|
Participants enrolled in the GPS sub-sample will be tracked and GPS records will be used measure exposure to alcohol outlets and mobility.
|
Day 3 to Day 17 of study
|
|
Change in The Drinker Inventory of Consequences Score
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 week follow-up
|
Select questions related to The Drinker Inventory of Consequences (DrInC), a measure of alcohol-related consequences on which higher scores reflect greater alcohol consequences.
(Score range: 0-8)
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Baseline, 1 week follow-up
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Collaborators and Investigators
This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.
Sponsor
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Christopher Morrison, PhD, Columbia University
Study record dates
These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.
Study Major Dates
Study Start (Actual)
May 1, 2022
Primary Completion (Actual)
March 14, 2025
Study Completion (Actual)
April 4, 2025
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
June 25, 2021
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
June 25, 2021
First Posted (Actual)
July 2, 2021
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
April 17, 2026
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
March 30, 2026
Last Verified
March 1, 2026
More Information
Terms related to this study
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
Other Study ID Numbers
- AAAT0912
- 1R01AA029112-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)
Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?
YES
IPD Plan Description
Data from the study will be submitted and shared with NIAAA Data Archive (NIAAADA), a data repository housed within the NIMH Data Archive (NDA).
IPD Sharing Time Frame
Data will become available March 2028, 2 years after the end of the project, as designated by NIAAADA policy.
IPD Sharing Access Criteria
Study data can be accessed on the NIAAADA website: https://nda.nih.gov/niaaa/getting-data
For access to individual-level data, researchers will need to receive authorization from NIAAA by completing the NDA Data Access Request (DAR).
IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type
- ANALYTIC_CODE
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
No
product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.
No
This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.