New research reveals Uber, Lyft have cornered 60 percent of Portland’s for-hire ride market.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
New research reveals Uber, Lyft have cornered 60 percent of Portland’s for-hire ride market.
Meanwhile, traditional taxi companies have lost 16 percent of their ridership.
But while Uber and Lyft have taken a bite out local taxi companies’ business, they’ve also drummed up a new client base of their own. Rides given by both taxis and their new app-based competitors combined have increased 40 percent.
The bureau’s takeaway is that Uber and Lyft are meeting demand not previously served by the taxi companies, whose fleets were previously capped by the city.
(SOURCE: OregonLive.com)
The companies are operating in the city under an extended pilot program.
The report adds that East Portland neighborhoods, which have had poor taxi service in the past, saw a 50 percent overall jump in service during the time period studied.
The bulk of this rise is attributed to increased service provided by ride-hailing companies in these areas. Taxi services here saw modest increases, and even some drops in service levels. (Uber adviser David Plouffe predicted this East Portland service spike last summer at TechFestNW.)
(SOURCE: Willamette Week)
The spokesperson for the Transportation Fairness Alliance Kelliann Amico said in a statement: “We are also curious as to how, and from whom in the City, Uber received the data before the news media.”
The report also shows how each type of service flourishes at different times. Taxis typically serve more riders early in the week, while Uber and Lyft control the majority of weekend ridership. Taxis also serve more riders overnight and in the very early morning, while Uber and Lyft dominate from noon to 2 a.m.
The average wait time so far appears to favor Uber and Lyft. In one metric offered by the Transportation Bureau, 75 percent of Uber and Lyft passengers waited six minutes or less for a ride, while 58 percent of taxi passengers received a ride within that amount of time.
(SOURCE: Portland Business Journal)
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