Research Summary for "STEEPL"

Bike-Sharing Beginnings: Usage & People's Attitude

source: Tools of Change
year: 2013

In an intercept survey of 1,038 users, conducted at bike share stations in August 2013, Citi Bike users cited convenience, ready availability, and flexibility as the most valuable service aspects. In 2015, 77% of NYC Citi Bike users were male. Some barriers that became evident after the service was launched were the lack of security in some stations and the need for child-friendly options.

Impact of Ride-Sharing Services on Society (Car-Sharing)

source: Global Intersection
year: 2016

Positive

• Diversity in drivers: Ride-Sharing Services (RSS) drivers can be anyone for as long as they passed the screening process and have completed all the requirements to provide transport service to the public. RSS driver-partners can be the parents, caregivers, students, veterans, and retirees locked out of traditional office work by force of circumstance.

• Ride Options for all kinds of people: Ride-Sharing Services (RSS) are evolving. It is now increasing its coverage by offering customized services for conservative people (i.e., uncomfortable taking RSS from a male driver). Ride-Sharing Services start-up companies like Chariot for Women (Massachusetts only) provide services specifically to female riders. This type of RSS offers more options for female job seekers and provides options for conservative female Ride-Sharing Services customers.

Negative

• Local transportation: RSS can trigger unfair treatment to local transport groups. Policies vary across different cultures and societies. Licensing requirements for public vehicle drivers may differ from each country. As an example, US license policy may be different from NZ.

Users of Ride-Hailing Apps (Car-Sharing) - Nationwide Context

source: Pew Research
years: 2015 & 2016

• 15% of American adults have used ride-hailing apps, but one-third have never heard of these services.
  

• The median age of adult ride-hailing users in the United States is just 33.
  

• There are no substantial differences in ride-hailing usage across gender or racial lines: Men and women are equally likely to use these services, as are whites, blacks, and Latinos.
  

• Ride-hailing use is strongly concentrated among urban residents, and several urban demographic groups use ride-hailing at especially high rates.
  

• 27% of Americans are familiar with ride-hailing apps and aware that these services are offered in their area, but have not yet used ride-hailing. And 8% of ride-hailing users say these services are not available where they now live.
  

• Frequent ride-hailing users are less likely than other Americans to own a car – but much more likely to use a number of other personal transportation options.
  

• Users tend to view ride-hailing services as software platforms, not transportation companies, and see their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. Yet, they expect these services to play a prominent role in managing the customer experience.
  

• Users view ride-hailing services in largely positive terms – especially when it comes to saving riders time and stress and offering good jobs to those who want flexible working hours.

Discriminatory Attitudes in Ride-Sharing / Sharing-Economy

source: Scott Middleton & Jinhua Zhao
year: 2019

Historical Evidence of Discrimination in Ride-hailing

• In a famous 1989 study, Ridley et al. demonstrated experimentally that black passengers seeking to hail a taxi from the street were seven times more likely to be passed than white passengers in Washington, D.C. This finding has been replicated and verified in many other studies.

• A 2000 poll, for example, found that 43 percent of African-Americans surveyed believe taxi drivers avoid picking up black passengers and 18 percent reported that they had a ride refused (Ayres et al., 2004, p. 1633).

• Furthermore, the growing importance of the sharing economy has led researchers to begin applying experimental studies of discrimination in this space, including the short-term housing rental service Airbnb. Edelman & Luca demonstrated that requests from Airbnb guests with distinctively African-American names are less likely to be accepted than identical guests with distinctively white names, closely paralleling the phenomenon of Uber driver cancellations identified by Ge et al. (Edelman and Luca, Similarly, Hannak et al. conducted a review of worker profiles in the freelance labor platforms TaskRabbit and Fiverr that identified correlations between gender/race and worker ratings, position in searches, and customer reviews (Hannak et al., 2017).

Taxi and Ride-Hailing Usage in New York City (Car-Sharing)

source: Todd W Schneider
year: 2020

• Amazing data updates monthly from NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission’s Monthly Indicators and FHV Base Aggregate reports.

Surprising NYC Ride-Sharing Study Findings (Car-Sharing)

source: Science Daily
year: 2019

• Researchers found that for-hire trips in New York's five boroughs increased by 46 percent - 82 million rides annually - from 2014 to 2017.
  

• Rideshare trips starting in the outer boroughs have exploded, increasing to 56 percent of the market in neighborhoods that are typically home to minority and low-income households that do not own vehicles of their own. These neighborhoods have typically been underserved by public transit as well as traditional taxi services, and while companies like Uber and Lyft may well be serving a mobility need and doing so in a way that is convenient to users, the fact that they are companies primarily driven by profit raises significant equity concerns. "From one side, the service is filling a gap, and that's a really positive thing," said Atkinson-Palombo. "But I think we have some concerns that they are for-profit entities and, at some point, especially now that they've gone public, they might need to charge market rates." they're not accountable to anybody and, at the end of the day, their remit is not to provide public transit. Their remit is to make a profit."
  

• Riders also have no control over whether or traffic conditions can enable the companies to enact surge pricing, which raises a real vulnerability for users who rely on the service.

Income Inequality with Ride-Share Services (Car-Sharing)

source: Nature
year: 2020

• According to interviews with Uber drivers, their main concerns are:

  • Their hourly wage.

  • The overall rates with which they operate.

  • The number of hours they need to work until they reach a given daily/weekly income target.

Ride-Share Driver's Minimum Wage (Car-Sharing)

source: NY Daily News
year: 2020

• In 2019, the Taxi & Limousine Commission created a "cruising cap" enforced with a new tool called a utilization rate, designed to make sure the companies pay all drivers a living wage.
  

• "After we demanded — and won — a minimum wage for rideshare drivers, Uber and Lyft started locking us out of the apps and deactivating our accounts after we reach a weekly maximum of hours."

Sharing Economy - Labor Faces Freedom and Uncertainty

source: The New York Times
year: 2014

• For people seeking a sideline, these services can provide extra income. Beyond the ride services, there are businesses like Airbnb, the short-term-stay broker; task brokers like TaskRabbit and Fiverr; on-demand delivery services like Postmates and Favor; and grocery-shopping services like Instacart.
  

• In a climate of continuing high unemployment, however, people are less microentrepreneurs than microearners. They often work seven-day weeks, trying to assemble a living wage from a series of one-off gigs. They have little recourse when the services for which they are on call change their business models or pay rates. To reduce the risks, many workers toggle among multiple services.
  

• “People are doing this in the midst of wage stagnation and income inequality, and they have to do these things to survive.”
  

• If these marketplaces are gaining traction with workers, labor economists say, it is because many people who can’t find stable employment feel compelled to take on ad hoc tasks. In July, 9.7 million Americans were unemployed, and an additional 7.5 million were working part-time jobs because they could not find full-time work, according to estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  

• Uber, Lyft and TaskRabbit, for instance, do not regard the workers who provide services to their users as employees. The companies say they are simply arenas, like eBays for gigs. They require their service providers to work as independent contractors and, as such, the workers don’t qualify for employee benefits like health insurance, payroll deductions for Social Security or unemployment benefits.

Ride-Sharing Brings Trust and Safety Concerns

source: MaRS
year: 2016

Concerns

• Almost anyone with a driver’s license, registered vehicle, and insurance can be an Uber driver if they pass the background check. However, most people don’t trust just anyone.

• 75% of people trust peer reviews, but what about the other 25%? Ride-sharing incidents, including assault, sexual assault, rape, and men harassing female drivers, have received a lot of online press. This has caused both riders and drivers to become skeptical of ride-sharing. Female drivers and riders have been on the receiving end of the abuse, bringing greater societal issues into the ride-sharing picture.

Mitigations

• Companies such as Uber, Lyft and BlancRide have all diligently tackled trust issues for drivers and passengers by implementing features such as two-way feedback. If an Uber driver’s rating drops below 4.6 out of 5, they are at risk of being deactivated. Companies have implemented other measures to enhance trust, such as social media verification and using Twilio to disguise drivers’ phone numbers.

Future Of Ride-Sharing Industry: What Technology Trends Offers For Enhanced User Convenience

sources: Vocal Media, Side Car & Ride Amigos
years: 2018 & 2020

Big Data Analytics For Ride-Hailing Industry

• Using deep learning and data mining concepts and methods, the collected and stored data can be retrieved and used for making predictions on user behavior and can decide to offer services accordingly.

• Considering different aspects of ride-hailing, the demographics. age group, usability, surge timings and more can efficiently help in predicting what age group to focus on and what requirements to answer considering the user expectations. Also, it helps in deciding an ideal ride fare that is not too heavy on your user's pockets and still can earn you great returns.

Artificial Intelligence: Improves Security and Roots For Better User Experience

• Using newer concepts of AI dedicated to improving security can increase the security of collected data to a great extent.

• Automatic cars are on the way. The ride-hailing giants are already investing resources in checking out the efficiency and accuracy and if it turns out to be of great service.

IoT: Track and Monitor Rides All the Time

• With the help of GPS and other IoT technologies that help in tracking and monitoring real-time locations, the taxi working under a ride-hailing organization can be tagged and continuously monitored for reducing the risks of possible thefts, attacks, and crimes.

• Including the feature of live-tracking, ride-hailing businesses can enable riders to view their ride's location in real-time and it also provides an estimated ride fare feature that eliminates the bargaining needs. Moreover, building a smart network of taxis that help determine the nearest ride to a rider's location can influence the total ride duration.

• Even traffic can be monitored to make sure you have an accurate estimate of when a meal or product will be delivered.

Mobile App Development: Easier Accessibility

• Smartphones have proven to be game-changers in the recent rise of urban transportation alternatives. Connecting with local rideshares is as easy as downloading an app or visiting a website. Maps and route-planning tools have gone digital. Communication is instant.

• Mobile platforms made a decentralized, peer-to-peer (P2P) economy a viable force. They made it possible for Person A, who needs a ride, to connect with Person B, who has a car. The taxi company no longer serves an irreplaceable purpose in the equation. Suddenly Person A can just message Person B directly. This set the stage for Uber to come in and challenge the long-standing monopoly over on-demand urban transportation held by the taxi industry.

The Exciting Future of Ride-Sharing

sources: Connected World & Underscore
year: 2017

Algorithms Can Dramatically Increase the Efficiency of Ride-Sharing by Transporting Passengers With Fewer Vehicles

• MIT researchers’ algorithm suggests 3,000 four-passenger cars could serve 98% of taxi demand in New York City, with an average wait time of just under three minutes. The algorithm, which leverages data from 3 million taxi rides, works in realtime to reroute cars based on incoming requests. MIT also says the algorithm can proactively send idle cars to areas with high demand. Researchers believe continued innovation and advancement of ride-sharing technology and adoption will cut traffic congestion and fuel consumption, which will free up people’s time from long commutes and result in cleaner air.

• Routable AI is revolutionizing ridesharing technology to make transportation more efficient — and more sustainable. Their research indicates that they could service all of Manhattan’s taxi demands with only ⅕ of the vehicles, a passenger wait time of fewer than 3 minutes and without putting the passengers more than 6 minutes out of their way due to carpooling.

Autonomous Ride-Sharing Vehicle

• Honda unveiled NeuV, a miniature autonomous EV (electric vehicle) that can not only function as a mode of personal transportation but also as an autonomous ride-sharing vehicle. The concept car integrates Honda’s AI that learns from drivers and takes actions based on feedback to improve the driving or riding experience. Their idea is that the NeuV could be actively driven by a human or autonomously driven by a computer depending on the driver’s preference that day. The vehicle could also make its owner money by making itself available for autonomous ride-sharing while the owner doesn’t require NeuV for him or herself.

Shifting the Transportation Paradigm

source: Ride Amigos
year: 2017

Disruptive Innovations (EVs) Will Continue to Make Shared Rides Cheaper

• A growing number of rideshare providers are moving toward fleet electrification, favoring the use of EVs (Electric Vehicle) over traditional gas-powered vehicles. This benefits the environment as well as the end-user, since fuel expenses account for a great deal of current ride-sharing costs. Going electric will bring consumer prices down, which will likely drive adoption rates up.

Ridesharing Will Expand to Non-Traditional Markets

• In the future, as technologies continue to improve, look for on-demand carpooling systems to come to smaller cities and even rural areas. Data aggregators will effectively and efficiently be able to group together people who are all headed in the same general direction, providing them with cost-effective microtransit services that will reduce their reliance on cars.

The Ridehailing Trend: Past, Present, and Future Overview of Ride-Hailing

source: Movmi
year: 2018

Blockchain Technology Might Ensure Greater Screening Measures

• In the future, blockchain may be integrated with ride-hailing technology to ensure greater screening measures of drivers and higher security standards for drivers. This has become a glaring need, particularly to ensure the safety of female users of ride-hailing; While there have only been a handful of these reports and it’s argued that standard taxis aren’t always safe, either, consumers need to be better protected. Blockchain technology may be implemented for the screening process of both drivers and riders before approval.

Autonomous Ride-Hailing

• which takes the question of the driver out of the equation altogether, perhaps advancing the safety of ride-hailing and allowing for even lower costs per ride to the end consumer. Autonomous vehicles would also be available 24 hours/day, allowing for more convenience and availability. “Autonomous vehicle fleets will quickly become widespread and will account for the majority of Lyft rides within 5 years,” says John Zimmer, CEO of Lyft.

• Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, believes the AV transition will occur through a network of autonomous car owners renting their vehicles to others, which may create a new form of ride-hailing altogether. And with the shift of both ride-hailing and car ownership moving towards autonomous vehicles, we can expect the very fabric of our cities – which current infrastructure is largely dedicated towards the functioning of private car ownership – to change dramatically.

How Technology Is Changing Ground Transportation

source: Side Car
year: 2018

• Drones could take over ground delivery far in the future so we might be at the summit of how smooth ground delivery can go.

Self Driving Cars Could Be the Future

source: Movmi
year: 2018

• Rental car companies like Avis (who purchased car-sharing giant Zipcar) are working with Waymo to develop a self-driving ride-hailing program in Arizona. The trend towards ride-hailing is in part a response to car manufacturers planning for a future where fewer car owners and drivers exist. As it stands, Americans between the ages of 16 to 24 with a driver’s license dropped from 76% in 2000 to 71% in 2013, and carsharing memberships are on the rise with every passing year. In addition, advancements in connected and automated vehicles to reduce CO2 emissions further the advance of ride-hailing services. All considered, it makes sense that car manufacturers are looking to secure their businesses in the future.
  

• This can be a great tool as the cars studied have had fewer accidents than humans. There are sensors that help the car avoid accidents that a driver might not have been able to see or avoid.
  

• Another possible advantage is that your car can make you money completely passively as you’re not even required to be physically present in it. This is like an Uber but without a driver, so you can have your car making you money while you are not using it. That would be a great return on investment and could even cover a car payment.
  

• Cruise is not the only company to propose using vehicles without human controls, and companies such as Navya and May Mobility have developed vehicles that can be used for ride-sharing.

Self-Driving Car Technology Can't Deliver on Overblown Ride-Sharing Promises

source: USA Today
year: 2019

• Both ride-hailing giants (Uber & Lyft) spend more than they earn. Their biggest expense? Driver salaries. Driverless technology is expected to change this. Sensors and software, after all, don’t demand salaries, which ultimately means wider margins. This explains why Uber and Lyft are investing heavily in self-driving technology. So is Waymo — a Google spinoff — which recently launched its own ‘robocab’ service. That service comes with caveats, however. It’s only available in some American suburbs (four to be exact; all of them in Arizona), not everyone living in those suburbs can freely use the service (Waymo has to preapprove you), and riders who can are greeted by human drivers in the front seat (Waymo added them owing to safety concerns).

Microsoft Teams Up With Cruise on Self-Driving Cars

sources: The Verge & Microsoft
years: 2020 & 2021

• Microsoft and Cruise are entering “a long-term strategic relationship” — though the partnership won’t be exclusive. It is one of Microsoft’s first partnerships with an autonomous vehicle company. (The company also struck a deal with UK-based startup Wayve last October.) As part of the deal, Cruise will use Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, to help speed up the process of making money off its fleet of autonomous vehicles. For its part, Microsoft will leverage its relationship with Cruise to expand more into the transportation sector.
  

• Microsoft has been mostly absent from the race to develop autonomous vehicles among the world’s big tech companies. But the software giant is still poised to profit from the technology, especially when it relates to vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Today, connected car networks ingest a deluge of digital information, including advanced driver-assist features like automatic braking, adaptive cruise control, and lane-keep assist. Soon enough, that information will be the backbone of autonomy.
  

• In addition, GM will work with Microsoft as its preferred public cloud provider to accelerate its digitization initiatives, including collaboration, storage, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. GM will explore opportunities with Microsoft to streamline operations across digital supply chains, foster productivity and bring new mobility services to customers faster.

GM's Cruise Unit Unveils Driverless Prototype Vehicle for Ride-Sharing Service

source: Reuters
year: 2020

• General Motors Co's GM.N self-driving car unit, Cruise, on Tuesday, unveiled a prototype electric vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals for use in its planned autonomous ride-sharing service.
  

• Cruise operates a ride service for its employees in San Francisco that have self-driving cars with safety drivers behind the wheel. Most of Cruise’s 180 test cars operate in the city, and Ammann said they could be used to start a commercial ride-sharing service before the driverless prototype vehicle is ready.

US GDP Growth Rate

source: Trading Economics
year: 2021

• The US economy expanded an annualized 4% in Q4 2020, slowing from a record 33.4% expansion in Q3 as the continued rise in COVID-19 cases and restrictions on activity moderated consumer spending. Considering full 2020, the GDP contracted 3.5%, the worst performance since 1946 but slightly less than forecasts of a 3.6% drop. It follows a 2.2% growth in 2019. The outlook for 2021 seems brighter than it was some months ago as the vaccination rollout began although at a slower than expected pace and as the new Biden administration unveiled a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan.

GDP, Fourth Quarter and Year 2020

source: BEA.GOV
year: 2020

• Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 33.4 percent. The increase in real GDP reflected increases in exports, nonresidential fixed investment, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), residential fixed investment, and private inventory investment that were partly offset by decreases in state and local government spending and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

• In Q4 2020, in comparison to Q3, there's less decrease in Personal Income, Disposable personal income, and personal saving rate. Personal Income decreased $339.7 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with a decrease of $541.5 billion in the third quarter. Disposable personal income decreased $372.5 billion, or 8.1 percent, in the fourth quarter, compared with a decrease of $638.9 billion, or 13.2 percent, in the third quarter. The personal saving rate — personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income — was 13.4 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with 16.0 percent in the third quarter.

Covid Impact

• The increase in fourth-quarter GDP reflected both the continued economic recovery from the sharp declines earlier in the year and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including new restrictions and closures that took effect in some areas of the United States.

The Decline and Recovery of Consumer Spending in the US

source: Brookings
year: 2020

• The United States is the world’s largest economy and the world’s largest consumer market. In 2020, American residents will spend around $12.5 trillion on durable and nondurable goods and services. This is more than half a trillion less than last year.
  

• The fall in consumption, however, has not been even across sectors. As is now well known, the collapse in consumption has been heavily concentrated in services, while consumption of goods has had a very modest decline. Figure 2 summarizes the expected changes from 2019 to 2020.

US Consumer Confidence Stumbles as Covid Saps Economic Momentum

source: CNBC
year: 2020

• (Background knowledge: Consumer confidence is an economic indicator that measures the degree of optimism that consumers feel about the overall state of the economy and their personal financial situation. If the consumer has confidence in the immediate and near future economy and his/her personal finance, then the consumer will spend more than save. When consumer confidence is high, consumers make more purchases. When confidence is low, consumers tend to save more and spend less. A month-to-month trend in consumer confidence reflects the outlook of consumers with respect to their ability to find and retain good jobs according to their perception of the current state of the economy and their personal financial situation.)
  

• U.S. consumer confidence dropped for a second straight month in December as a deterioration in the labor market offset the rolling out of a Covid vaccine. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index dropped to a reading of 88.6 this month, the lowest since August, from 92.9 in November.

Joe Biden’s Economic Plan

source: Investopedia
year: 2021

Joe Biden's Economic Policy: Top Line Agenda

• Provide health insurance coverage for 97% of Americans in 10 years.

• Raise an additional $4 trillion in tax revenue by increasing the top tax rate to 39.6%, taxing capital gains at ordinary rates, and raising the corporate tax rate to 28%.

• Forgive student loan debt and make college free for those making up to $125,000.

• Raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and repeal "right to work" laws.

• Expand "Buy American" policies through government purchasing, while using subsidies, federal matching, and incentives to make American products more competitive.

• Invest $1.3 trillion in infrastructure over 10 years.

• Spend $2 trillion on clean energy during his first term as president

Biden Plans to Replace Government Fleet With Electric Vehicles and Invest in Clean Energy

sources: CNBC & Joe Biden Website
year: 2021

• President Joe Biden plans to replace the government’s vehicle fleet with electric vehicles assembled in the U.S.
  

• Biden will invest $400 billion over ten years, as one part of a broad mobilization of public investment, in clean energy and innovation. He will also establish ARPA-C, a new research agency focused on accelerating climate technologies.
  

• Biden will set a target of reducing the carbon footprint of the U.S. building stock 50% by 2035, creating incentives for deep retrofits that combine appliance electrification, efficiency, and on-site clean power generation. He will work with our nation’s governors and mayors to support the deployment of more than 500,000 new public charging outlets by the end of 2030. And, Biden will ensure our agricultural sector is the first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions, and that our farmers earn income as we meet this milestone.

The New York State Economy During the Pandemic

sources: New York Fed & Labor.NY.Gov
years: 2020 & 2021

• In December 2020, the statewide unemployment rate decreased from 8.4% to 8.2%. New York City’s unemployment rate decreased over the month from 12.1% to 11.4%. Outside of New York City, the unemployment rate increased from 5.7% to 5.9%. The number of unemployed New Yorkers decreased over the month by 20,200, from 764,500 in November to 744,300 in December 2020.

COVID-19 Impact on Ride-Sharing Market by Service Type (E-Hailing, Car-Sharing, Car Rental, Station-Based Mobility)

source: World Politics Review
year: 2020

• Post-COVID-19, the global ride-sharing market size is projected to grow at a Y-O-Y growth of 55.6% from 2020 to 2021, to reach USD 117.34 billion by 2021 from USD 75.39 billion in 2020. The projection for 2021 is estimated to be down by 2% as compared to the pre-COVID-19 estimation.
  

• Car sharing services are expected to be the most impacted in the ride-sharing market, by service type, during the forecast period. With the impact of COVID-19, the car-sharing market is estimated to lose its share by 50–60% during 2020. Furthermore, by 2021, it will gain its market by 70–80% because of new strategies like providing partitions to keep the distance between driver and passenger, equipping the vehicle with sanitizers, and installing devices to measure the body temperature of passengers to eliminate the threat of such infections in future.

21+ Sharing Economy Statistics to Share in 2020

source: Spend Me Not
year: 2021

Sharing Economy Statistics:

• The sharing economy is set to reach $335 billion by 2025.

• Companies working in the sharing economies will grow by 2133% in 12 years.

• Over 86 million Americans will use the sharing economy by 2021.

• Sharing homes is the least desired activity in the sharing economy.

The Current and Future State of the Sharing Economy

source: Brookings
year: 2017

• In the next ten years, the increase in revenues from the traditional rental industry will be modest in comparison to the explosion in revenues in the shared economy. The PwC report from 2014 disaggregates this growth across sectors. And as shown in the next figure, the growth projections from the shared economy are significantly higher in sectors such as crowdfunding, online staffing, car sharing, and others. The growth projections are significantly lower in traditional sectors such as equipment, cars, and DVD rentals.

General Ride-Sharing Numbers

sources: Next Big Future & Statista
year: 2017

• The US was the world’s biggest rideshare market, worth a total of $11.8 billion (in 2017). By 2030, the US market is set to more than double in size to reach $25.9 billion.
  

• Goldman Sachs estimated the worldwide ridesharing market could grow eightfold by 2030, to reach a total value of $285 billion, from the 2017-figure of $36 billion. This would be worth $65 billion to ride-hailing companies, assuming a 23% commission from gross bookings. The point of profitability will only come with self-driving cars, Goldman Sachs predicts.
  

• In a slightly-less long-term analysis of the US ride-hailing market, Statista estimated that the user base will grow to 56 million in 2019 from 45 million in 2017, continuing to steadily grow at a gradually declining rate to reach 61.3 million by 2023.
  

• To look at it another way, ride-hailing market penetration is set to grow from 14% in 2017 to 18% in 2023. 16.2% is the 2019 estimate.
  

• Statista estimates that the US rideshare market will be worth $18.5 billion in 2019, well up on 2017’s $12.7 billion. This will increase to over $26 billion by 2023.
  

• While these figures may be pleasant reading for Lyft and other players in the US ride-hailing market, this robust rate of growth is almost certainly unsustainable. This is borne out by Statista’s analysis, which finds that 2019’s 18% revenue growth will give way to a 14% rate in 2020, falling to 6% by 2023. 2019’s figure already marks a notable slowdown since 2017, when growth rates stood at 23%.

Lyft vs Uber Statistics

sources: Second Measure, Yahoo, BBC & Forbes
years: 2018, 2019 & 2021

• As of May 2020, Lyft held a 29% of the ride-hailing market in the US, compared to Uber’s 71%. This share has remained fairly consistent since 2018 after a few impressive years for Lyft, which has gained a good deal of ground on the once seemingly untouchable Uber. This analysis doesn’t seem to consider other competitors.
  

• Lyft themselves claimed a 39% share of the market in March 2019 – up from 22% in 2016. Uber stats showed a slightly less generous picture for Lyft at this stage, giving it a share of 28-30%. For comparison, Second Measure had Uber at 73% and Lyft at 27% at the same time.
  

• In terms of the top-spending cities, Seattle comes out on top here in terms of Lyft spending, followed by San Francisco, and Austin.
  

• While Lyft may only operate in the US, the US is the world’s biggest ride-hailing market. Ergo Lyft’s market share globally stands at around 10%, according to Forbes.
  

• The last of these records an average monthly Lyft spend of $85, compared to $46 average Uber spend. This is not, however, the highest average amount spent per month on Lyft, which can be found in the lucrative San Francisco, at $89 (compared to $110 on Uber – the only incursion into three figures recorded by this analysis). Lyft is very much playing catch-up in cities in the northeast such as Boston ($95 to $55), New York ($84 to $54), and Philadelphia ($73 to $46).

Along for the Ride: Tracking the Sharing Economy’s Impact on GDP

source: Kansas City Fed
year: 2017

• Michael Redmond is an associate economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In his recent research, “Waiting for a Pickup: GDP and the Sharing Economy,” Redmond says growth in gross domestic product (GDP) has consistently fallen short of expectations since the Great Recession, making it the slowest economic expansion since World War II.
  

• Google Trends, which measures internet searches, showed that Uber, the dominant ride-share service in the industry, grew rapidly in 2014 and continued to increase in popularity in 2015. Although Uber and even Lyft—at a lesser amount—began trending upward, GDP data showed spending on taxi services began to decline during that same period.

Uber and the Economy

sources: Uber & EDR Group
years: 2017 & 2018

• A newly released study by the Economic Development Research Group* (EDR Group) takes a closer look at Uber’s economic impact in the United States and also measures Uber’s value-add to the lives of riders and drivers. The take-home amount in gross revenue for all of Uber’s driver and delivery partners in 2017 was more than $12.9 billion.
  

• The net economic value-add to drivers is $5.7 billion annually. Schedule flexibility is the most commonly reported amenity benefit for drivers. 80% of drivers cite the importance of schedule flexibility that the Uber app offers.
  

• Nearly a quarter (23%) of drivers nationwide were unemployed prior to driving with Uber.
  

• Overall, 11.6% of Uber trips in the United States are taken by out-of-town visitors. And 26.7% of visitors report spending more during their trip because Uber enabled them to visit additional locations.
  

• 1 in 10 trips connects to a bus or rail line, according to riders.
  

• Another 14% of Uber trips in the United States allowed riders to visit destinations they could not access without Uber.
  

• The net impact of Uber on the United States economy is $591 million annually. This includes $580 million from added business productivity and $11 million of inflow from visitor spending.
  

• Uber’s contribution to the U.S. economy is $17 billion in gross domestic product. This does not include the effect of Uber offices or of the UberEATS business. The figure below shows how Uber’s activities touch every major industry in the country. This occurs as drivers spend their income on food, clothing, housing, and other goods and services, which generates sales and income for other businesses. A portion of driver income also generates sales of fuel and vehicle maintenance services. As workers in those industries spend their own income, they generate further rounds of economic impact—all of which trace back to the money that Uber drivers spend. We use an economic impact model (described in the appendix) to calculate Uber’s contribution to the economy.
  

• Uber rider benefits in the United States add up to $17.6 billion annually when considering cost savings, time savings, and added amenity benefits. The average benefit per trip is a combination of $1.68 in cost savings, $5.42 in time savings, and $4.98 in amenity value.

Wage Related Stats (Lyft)

sources: Business of Apps & Earnest
year: 2020

• 2020 Lyft earnings stats from Indeed peg driver salary levels at $29,627. Back in 2017, Earnest calculated how much Lyft drivers and other workers in the shared economy earned on a monthly basis using data collected from “tens of thousands” of loan applicants. Driving for Lyft brings in a mean average of $377, with median earnings standing at $210.
  

• With the same caveats, breaking it down into earnings brackets we see that the greatest proportion of Lyft drivers earn $100-$499 per month. This compares to 39% of Uber drivers, who are more likely to fall into the sub-$100 bracket.

Economic Level of Users

sources: Business of Apps, Pew Research, Gallup, New Yorker, Second Avenue Sagas, Governing, Liberty Street Economics & Ride Fatdaddy
years: 2010, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2021

Lyft Users Demographic

• The median household income of Lyft riders stood at around $68,900 in 2020, higher than the national US median of $61,900 and well up on the $50,000 reported a year prior, which was slightly below the US-wide median household income of $58,000. Lyft states that (excluding Canada), that 40% of Lyft rides begin or end in low-income areas, suggesting that the company is helping to make transport accessible.

More Americans are Using Ride-Hailing Apps

• Those whose annual household income is $75,000 or more are roughly twice as likely as those earning less than $30,000 to have used these services (53% vs. 24%).
  

• Notably, adoption gaps between urban and rural Americans are present even within groups that collectively use ride-hailing services at high rates. For example, among Americans who earn $75,000 or more annually, urban residents are more than twice as likely to have used these services as high-income individuals living in rural communities (71% vs. 32%).

Who Uses Ride-Sharing Services in the US?

• Americans with higher incomes are among the most likely to use the services. Among Americans residing in households in which the annual income is $90,000 or more, 41% report using ride-sharing services. This is substantially higher than any other income group. Roughly a quarter of all other income-based subgroups of Americans say they use ride-sharing services.

Inequality in the New York Subway

• Highest median household income of any census tract the subway has a station in: $205,192 – for Chambers Street, Park Place, and World Trade Center.

• Lowest median household income: $12,288 – Sutter Avenue stop, on the L in Brooklyn.

• Largest range in median household income on a single subway line: $191,442–for the 2 line, which includes Chambers Street/Park Place on the high end, and East 180th Street in the Bronx, on the low end.

• Smallest range in median household income on a single subway line: $84,837–for the G line, the only non-shuttle subway line that doesn’t pass through Manhattan.

• About the median transit rider: he or she makes $55,700 a year and is 43 years old. People who use the unlimited fare offerings do indeed make significantly more than those who do not. Generally, these numbers do not present a picture of people who own cars in New York City or make extensive use of autos. It certainly reinforces how Albany fails city residents when they take money from the MTA or force the authority to cut service, raise fares or both.

Public Transportation’s Demographic Divide

• Riders in New York City – home to the most public transportation users of any U.S. city – reported median incomes of $35,350, just below $36,803 for all commuters.

Environmental Repercussions of Rideshare

sources: Resources Mag & NYC.gov
year: 2020

• It varies from city to city.

Rides Without a Passenger

• California Air Resources Board estimates that rideshare vehicles emit nearly 50 percent more greenhouse gas emissions per passenger-mile traveled than regular cars. That's because rideshare drivers spend much of their time driving without a passenger, polluting the air without heading toward a particular destination. The environmental consequences here are substantial: one study estimated that in New York City, rideshares are driving without passengers 41 percent of the time.

Public Transport Users Who Use Ride-Share

• The environmental impact of ridesharing depends on the availability of other transit options.

• If users would have otherwise driven themselves, then the impact of Ubers or Lyfts is negligible—one car is simply replacing another. But if ridesharing is used by those who would have walked or used public transit, then these services cause pollution that would not have existed otherwise.

• By adding more vehicles on the road, ridesharing can amplify traffic, extend commute times, and increase emissions. In other words, the effects of ridesharing "critically hinge on interactions with current travel modes."

• Nationally, ridesharing's environmental impact has been relatively small: national vehicle miles traveled and CO2 emissions have increased 0.08 and 0.14 percent, respectively.

• In cities with relatively low public transit use or where walking is not feasible, the effect of ridesharing on vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions were negligible. Where modes of travel besides cars are common, ridesharing has a more pronounced effect on emissions.

Future

• This new research suggests that because the impact of ridesharing is so heterogeneous, policy solutions should be tailored to individual cities. As Leard and Xing point out, "[Policymakers] considering restricting access to ridesharing as a way to reduce traffic congestion should do so at a local, city-by-city level and account for the substitution patterns that we uncover."

Ride-Hailing Isn't Really Green

source: Bloomberg
year: 2020

• The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that Uber and Lyft rides' environmental impact is 69% worse than the transportation modes they replace.
  

• The effects are likely even worse in downtown areas, where riders are more likely to choose on-demand rides in lieu of cleaner modes of mobility.

Rides Without Passengers

• Although ride-hailing vehicles tend to be more gasoline-efficient than America's fleet of individually owned cars — for-hire drivers often buy these cars for the express purpose of towing people around —, Anair and his colleagues found that the fuel savings was not enough to make up for the many miles that ride-hail drivers log without anyone in the back seat ("deadheading," in taxi-driver talk).

Replacing Public Transportation

• UCS researchers estimated how ride-hailing compares to the transportation options riders would have otherwise chosen. Assuming on-demand trips are pooled an average of 15 percent of the time, Uber and Lyft rides deadhead so much and so often displace lower-emitting options such as public transit, walking, and biking that they turn out to be 69 percent more polluting, the study estimates.

Future

• "Policies that promote pooling, vehicle electrification and better connections to public transit can facilitate a reduced environmental impact from TNCs while building on their mobility and accessibility benefits," said Susan Shaheen, the co-director of the UC Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center, which was not involved in the report.

Is Uber Bad for the Environment?

source: Grist
year: 2015

Car Ownership

• This is all good for the environment, as directing population growth into denser areas and allowing people to forgo car ownership means lower transportation emissions and less cutting down forests at the exurban fringe to throw up new subdivisions.

Ridesharing Over Public Transportation?

• Uber is not nearly as revolutionary in New York as it is in most places. That’s because the city already had a strong network of cars you could call on the phone to pick you up within a few minutes — called “livery cars” by the city government and “car services” by New Yorkers. In the outer boroughs and far Uptown Manhattan, where yellow taxicabs on the street are often hard to find, this was the main way of hitching a ride. Livery cabs (including limos and “black cars”) and taxis are categorized as two different kinds of “for-hire” cars by the New York City government.

• But if so many options already exist, are the Uber rides replacing transit rides and contributing to more traffic, pollution, and accidents? New York’s city government is trying to figure that out right now. And, depending on what it determines, it might cap the growth of cab apps. The city is also considering applying new regulations to them. Some of these are good ideas, like requiring disabled-accessible vehicles and making riders pay the mass-transit surcharge. Others, like banning surge pricing, are just meddlesome.

• Bill de Blasio - "traffic is getting worse. Last year was the slowest year on record for the streets of the Manhattan — barely 8.5 mph on average, and preliminary data from this May shows speeds dropping further to under 8 mph." But that may not be because of Uber. It all depends on whether Uber rides are replacing rides that would have been taken otherwise in a private car or cab, or on transit or by foot.

• Possible Mitigations - started to think about capping - "We don’t know what these vehicles are doing on our roads, and why issue more permits if we find we’ve given out too many of them?"

Ride-Hailing Problem on Climate

source: UCS USA
year: 2020

Key Findings

• Ride-hailing trips have a much higher carbon impact than the trips they replace—the average ride-hailing trip produces an estimated 69 percent more carbon emissions than the trips it replaces.

• Compared to a private car trip, a non-pooled ride-hailing trip produces about 47 percent more carbon emissions.

• A pooled ride-hailing trip shared between two passengers is similar in emissions to a private vehicle trip, and about 33 percent lower polluting than a non-pooled ride-hailing trip.

Suggestions to Mitigate

• Electrifying ride-hailing vehicles would dramatically improve the climate emissions of ride-hailing trips. An electric ride-hailing trip would cut emissions by about 50 percent compared to a private vehicle trip; a pooled, electric ride-hailing trip would lower emissions by nearly 70 percent compared to a private vehicle trip (or about 79 percent compared with a non-pooled ride-hailing trip).

• On average, bus and rail travels have lower carbon emissions than car travel in either a private vehicle or in a pooled or non-pooled ride-hailing vehicle. However, using ride-hailing to connect to transit can be a good low-carbon choice. For example, a pooled ride-hailing trip connecting to the train, where the ride-hailing trip is a quarter of the total trip length, can be more than 50 percent less polluting than a private vehicle trip.

Ride-Hailing Industry Still Hasn’t Confronted the Heart of the Problem it has Created

source: Bloomberg
year: 2018

• Carbon offsets and bike-sharing services are great. But the ride-hailing industry still hasn’t confronted the heart of the problem it has created.

Vehicle Ownership Is Not Solving the Problem

• But is vehicle ownership really what counts when measuring the industry’s environmental impact? Probably not, since car ownership isn’t what produces emissions. It’s using the car.

• More broadly, neither Lyft nor any other ride-hailing company has seriously addressed the real heart of the transportation problem, to which they seem to be meaningfully contributing: more trips, more miles, more greenhouse gases.

Mitigation Efforts by Ride-Sharing Services?

• Carbon offset projects in the future: Lyft announced that all passenger rides will be carbon neutral, indefinitely. The plan is to cancel out vehicle emissions by investing in carbon offset projects while eventually folding electric and autonomous vehicles into its fleet. The move bolsters the company’s image as a greener, more socially conscious alternative to Uber, its major competitor, which has not made such a pledge.

• But still, at current EV adoption rates, it will be a very long time indeed before every vehicle on the road is electric and not streaming tailpipe emissions as it moves and idles in traffic.

• Efforts to provide other public modes in the app: Its recent pivot to provide more bike-sharing, car-sharing, and transit-locating services on its app “is about scaling up alternatives that reduce personal vehicle use in cities,” Andrew Salzberg, the head of transportation policy and research for Uber, told CityLab earlier this month.

MIT Study Says 3,000 Ride-Sharing Cars Could Replace Every Cab in New York City

sources: The Verge, CSAIL MIT
year: 2017

Mitigation Suggestions

• All 13,000 taxis in New York City could be replaced by a fleet of 3,000 ride-sharing cars if used exclusively for carpooling, according to research published today by MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). Instead of hailing taxis, passengers that use ride-sharing services for carpooling may lead to reduced traffic congestion, pollution, and fuel use.

• From study - “Instead of transporting people one at a time, drivers could transport two to four people at once, resulting in fewer trips, in less time, to make the same amount of money,” says Rus. “A system like this could allow drivers to work shorter shifts, while also creating less traffic, cleaner air, and shorter, less stressful commutes.”

Move to Cap Ride-Sharing in NYC Backed by Environmental Groups

source: Patch
year: 2018

Mitigation Efforts - Policies

• "We need to prioritize policies that create and expand access to public transit, reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, and bring our transit network into the 21st century," the leaders wrote. "And one strategy that can do all these things in a fair and equitable way is congestion pricing."

• "The guiding pillars of these bills have always been to help drivers, increase fairness, and fight congestion, and I am glad to see the environmental aspect of this undertaking is not getting lost in the fray," Johnson said in a statement to Patch.

Uber Wants Us to Think It's Environmentally Friendly, But Is It?

source: Vice
year: 2017

• When the speculation started. There wasn't much research at the time, and Uber claimed to be eco-friendly by pushing the message of reduced car ownership, reducing the number of cars and hence the amount of pollution.

The Startup With Thousands of Electric Vehicles and Hundreds of Collisions (Revel)

source: Reuters
year: 2020

The Good

• Revel’s outreach to health-care workers coincided with its biggest expansion yet. The two-and-half-year-old company now operates 6,000 electric mopeds in New York; Miami; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Oakland, Calif.; and Berkeley, Calif. By some measures, its rapid growth has been a stunning success in a year when the pandemic knocked so many other businesses sideways. It tripled the size of its New York fleet to 3,000 vehicles just as the coronavirus arrived and people started shunning public transportation. At the end of 2020, Revel said it had 400,000 registered users in the city—up 133% since March.

• That means what it comes to shared electric transportation, Revel has established itself as a dominant name in America’s largest metropolis, second only to Citi Bike, which expects to have almost 4,000 e-bikes on the streets at the end of January. Alternative transportation advocates say the success of companies such as Revel is crucial if countries around the world are to meet the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, endorsed by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden.

The Problems

• Revel’s mopeds, however, are more dangerous than other kinds of what’s often referred to as micromobility. They’re heavier than e-scooters or electric bikes, and with a top speed of 30 mph, they’re much faster. Revel’s New York expansion was marred by the deaths of three riders this summer.

• Revel is grappling with the fallout of these problems, including more than 40 lawsuits in New York. There were 340 collisions involving Revel mopeds from early January to July 28, 2020, when the company ceased its operations in the city, according to data provided by the New York City Police Department.

Mitigations

• Safety protocols: Revel riders are now required to pass a multiple-choice safety quiz twice with 21 questions, including “Why am I required to wear a helmet?” and “Why are Revels NEVER allowed in parks?” before they’re allowed to start using mopeds.

Ride-Hail Apps Fret Over New York City’s New Regulations

sources: City & State NY, NYC.Gov, NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, Daily News, Vox, Tax.NY.Gov, The New York Times & Wired
years: 2015, 2018 & 2019

Government Thinking

• The rules are aimed at reducing congestion in Manhattan, where ride-share vehicles make up close to a third of peak-time traffic, according to the TLC.

• Boost drivers pay.

• A study released by the city in June found that for-hire vehicles on average cruise without passengers 41% of the time that they are driving in the Manhattan congestion zone. Under the TLC’s proposed rules for this new cruising time regulation, starting next February, Uber, Lyft and other companies would be fined when their drivers spend more than 36% of their time in the congestion zone cruising. By August 2020, the limit will be reduced to 31%.

• Curbing city traffic and air pollution: Mayor de Blasio on reforming how Uber and Lyft operate.

Policies

• New rules - 2019

  • A one-year pause on issuing new licenses to for-hire vehicles to limit the number of app-based cars populating city streets and competing with the taxi industry.

  • An extension of the cap on new for-hire vehicle licenses.

  • As well as a limit on how long app-based vehicles can cruise aimlessly in Manhattan below 96th Street. This is an attempt to cut down on high levels of congestion in central areas of Manhattan – a goal that the state is addressing through additional measures, including comprehensive congestion pricing in the central business district, and a congestion surcharge on for-hire vehicles south of 96th Street.

  • Along with a new driver minimum pay rule and a $2.75 congestion surcharge applied to most for-hire vehicles in Manhattan.

• In 2018

  • New York City passes nation’s first minimum pay rate for Uber and Lyft drivers, The new rule will likely give drivers an extra $5 an hour

  • City officials passed the nation’s first minimum pay rate for drivers ($17.22 per hour after expenses) who work for ride-hailing apps, ending a contentious two-year battle to make sure drivers can earn a decent living.

  • $2.75 Congestion surcharge.

• In 2015

  • De Blasio tried and failed to push through a similar cap on new for-hire vehicle licenses.

Uber Reacts and Sues

• In its lawsuit, filed in a New York state court, Uber argues that the one-year freeze on ride-hail vehicle licenses is anticompetitive and exceeds the city’s authority. It also argues that there are better policies for fighting traffic, tools that don’t specifically target ride-hail companies.

• While the cruising time limitation is aimed at reducing congestion and pushing out drivers to underserved outer boroughs, details on how the rule will avoid unintended consequences are lacking.

Via Reactions

• Via, for example, already boasts a cruising rate of just 13%, falling well below the current for-hire vehicle average and the future targets. “I don't see any real changes for us on the operational front, because our mission from day one in New York City has been to transport many passengers as possible in a few vehicles as possible,” head of public policy at Via.

• The company focuses primarily on shared rides in high-occupancy vehicles, like vans that might hold five or six people. Roughly 90% of Via’s trips in high occupancy vehicles during peak times are shared by at least three passengers, a spokeswoman for the company said.

• Via may not be concerned about the new cruising time limit, but that doesn’t mean the company is unscathed by the city’s regulations. “We don't think the cap is the best approach,” Greenawalt said. “The problem with the cap is that it's done in such a blunt way that it doesn't, for example, distinguish between pooled rides and single passenger rides, which we think is a real problem.”

Lyft Reactions

• Lyft is also getting creative to comply with new regulations, specifically the minimum pay rule. Because the pay formula is pegged to utilization rate, the more time a driver spends without a passenger, the more companies have to pay.

• Since June, Lyft has been kicking drivers off its app in areas and at times where demand is low, directing them to areas with more ride requests.

• “There is no reason these so-called cruising cap rules need to be rushed through on such an accelerated time frame,” said Lyft spokeswoman Campbell Matthews. “It's critical that the TLC slow down so it can first understand how the many rules and regulations it has already enacted will impact New Yorkers.”

Uber to Limit Drivers' App Access to Comply With NYC Regulation

source: Reuters
year: 2019

Lyft and Uber Reactions

• Both companies oppose the unprecedented rules, saying they will prevent drivers from earning money and cut off low-income New Yorkers in remote areas not serviced by regular taxis, a claim the city rejects.

• “Time and again we’ve seen Mayor (Bill) de Blasio’s TLC pass arbitrary and politically-driven rules that have unintended consequences for drivers and riders,” Uber said in a statement on Monday.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance Thinking

• A union representing taxi and app-based drivers said the companies were trying to scare drivers.

• “Uber is now spreading fear and disinformation to New York drivers, attempting to convince workers that rules protecting their livelihoods are to blame for Uber’s greedy policies,” the union said in a statement.

Loophole Allows NYC Uber and Lyft Cars to Pollute More Than Yellow Cabs

source: Gizmodo
year: 2019

NYC Laws Helped Reduce Air Pollution Caused by Taxis (Starting in 2005)

• A study published in Nature on Wednesday shows how New York’s laws to reduce emissions from its taxi fleet has helped reduce air pollution between 2009 and 2015 in parts of Manhattan where the cabs see the highest density. The study authors looked at nitrous oxide and particulate matter, two major forms of air pollution.

• The Clean Air Taxi Act in 2005 mandated that hybrids join the list of cabs drivers can choose from. By 2008, more than 1,300 hybrids were in the streets thanks to updated regulations that mandated at least 9 percent of the city’s vehicles be hybrids and extending these “clean-air” models’ lifetimes for drivers.

Rideshare Isn’t as Good as Taxis For the Air

• They used the same method to look at for-hire car emissions. Between 2009 and 2015, ridesharing vehicles saw only roughly a 30 percent increase in fuel efficiency to 21 miles per gallon while the yellow cab fleet saw nearly an 83 percent increase to 33 miles per gallon.

• None of these local laws impact the cars Lyft or Uber drivers use on a daily basis, though. The authors hypothesize that the city would see more dramatic air pollution reductions if for-hire cars also had to comply with city regulations.

New Rules Help With Pollution Too

source: NYC.Gov
year: 2019

• App-based high volume for-hire vehicle companies like Uber and Lyft have fundamentally changed the way people move around major cities. The data collected by New York City provides unique insights into the impact of the FHV sector’s growth on congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, showing that emissions from TLC-regulated industries have increased by 66% since 2010.
  

• Along with a cap on idle time within the most congested parts of the city, a continuation of the vehicle license pause through 2020, and an exemption for electric vehicles, will allow the City to potentially reduce the negative impacts associated with the growth in new mobility options.
  

• Although EVs are the best available technology to address the emissions concerns resulting for FHV fleet use, it is not a substitute for investing more in bus and bike lane infrastructure, ensuring that FHVs are deployed efficiently to reduce non-revenue VMT, deprioritizing vehicle use during certain times of the day, limiting parking availability, and investing in public transit. FHV regulation will be revisited by New York City in August 2020 based on the impacts of the current rules.

TNC (Transportation Network Company) vs TLC (Taxi and Limousine Commission)

sources: DMV.NY.Gov & NYC.Gov
years: 2019 & 2021

• TNC stands for “transportation network company”, a term defined in a recently enacted part of the State Vehicle & Traffic Law. A TNC is a business, also known as a "rideshare company", licensed by DMV to use a digital network (smartphone app) to connect passengers to TNC drivers for prearranged trips.
  

• TNC Operation started in 2017.
  

• The TNC Act applies across New York State except within New York City, which already allows ride-sharing companies to operate under its existing Taxi & Limousine Commission requirements.

TLC Update on COVID

source: NYC.Gov
year: 2021

• During the COVID-19 health crisis, TLC and the City are taking steps to support TLC drivers, vehicle owners, and businesses.
  

• TLC licensees can take advantage of the Driver Resource Center, which provides financial counseling, legal services, and other useful free City resources such as health care insurance, mental health resources, and more.

The Battle Between Uber And Lyft Has Become Political

source: CNBC
year: 2017

• In the 36 hours between President Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order restricting immigration and the same rule’s effects being halted by a federal judge in New York, the rivalry between Uber and Lyft abruptly became political. Trump’s executive order suspended the intake of all refugees for 120 days and Syrian refugees indefinitely. It also blocked people from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days.
  

• What people saw when they compared the statements: Uber is willing to work with Trump. Lyft is “firmly against” Trump’s actions.
  

• Uber had responded faster to Trump’s executive order, focusing on how it could help its employees. Lyft responded later – without some of the promises Uber made – but its broad denunciation of Trump’s refugee ban drew praise.

The Uncertain Life of New York City’s Immigrant Uber Drivers During the Pandemic

source: The New Yorker
year: 2020

• Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare companies are not legally required to contribute to an unemployment fund.
  

• But, in 2018, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that drivers for Postmates, an online food-delivery service, and “others similarly situated” were eligible for unemployment benefits. The decision was reaffirmed last month by the same court. Though the ruling marked entitlements for gig workers, companies disagree that rideshare drivers are “similarly situated”; in the meantime, Uber and Lyft have declined to report drivers’ wages to the state, forcing drivers to engage in lengthy processes to prove that they are entitled to the payments.
  

• On Friday, some Guild drivers in New York began to receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Andrew Byrne, a senior director of public policy at Uber, told me that the company has been pushing for a third legal category for years, in part because the concept of unemployment, as it exists under current law, does not fit with Uber’s model.
  

• Dara Khosrowshahi, the C.E.O. of Uber, said that it is because Uber drivers are independent contractors that he can’t do much to improve their circumstances. Rideshare drivers, like other workers in the gig economy, are considered independent contractors, not employees, and are not entitled to traditional benefits, such as guaranteed wages and health insurance.
  

• Khosrowshahi also sent a letter to President Donald Trump in which he requested that the coronavirus stimulus package include funds for rideshare drivers and asked that Trump consider legislation “on a ‘third way’ that would update our labor laws to remove the forced choice between flexibility and protection for millions of American workers.”

Uber and Lyft Drivers Win Ruling on Unemployment Benefits

sources: The New York Times & CoMotion News
year: 2020

• Drivers for Uber and Lyft won a key victory on Tuesday in their continuing effort to be treated like other workers when a federal judge in New York ruled that the state must promptly begin paying them unemployment benefits.
  

• Many drivers have waged a long legal and political battle with the companies over their employment status. Uber and Lyft have maintained that drivers are independent contractors who are not entitled to standard employment protections, such as a minimum wage, overtime pay, and unemployment insurance.
  

• Although the lawsuit was filed against the state rather than Uber and Lyft, the judge called out the companies for extensive delay tactics that had made it difficult for drivers to receive the benefits they are owed.
  

• Going forward, the Department of Labor must perform weekly queries to identify eligible claims by drivers who are currently denied prompt payment of their benefits so they can receive them quickly.
  

• The ruling was a preliminary injunction, meaning the court was sufficiently persuaded by the drivers’ arguments and the urgency of the situation to require the state to accelerate the payments while the case is being litigated. The state can appeal the preliminary injunction to a higher court, and the court’s decision at the end of the trial could also reverse the preliminary decision, though that is unlikely.

Will Gig Workers Be Classified as Employees?

sources: City & State NY, City & State NY, City & State NY, Bloomberg Law, The New York Times & Politico
years: 2018 & 2020

• California’s 2019 reclassification of gig workers such as ride-hail app drivers as employees put the spotlight on New York, the next largest labor-friendly state.
  

• Few expected that Albany would pass major legislation reclassifying workers this year, but momentum was building. Hearings were held, and multiple bills were introduced taking varied approaches to decide whether gig workers should remain classified as independent contractors, be reclassified as employees, or be granted employment benefits in some other way.
  

• In his January budget proposal, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a task force to study how gig workers should be classified and make recommendations by May 1 – or leave it to the state Department of Labor to introduce new regulations on its own. When the Legislature passed a budget in April, it left out Cuomo’s task force proposal. Despite the fact that gig workers for companies such as Instacart and Grubhub found themselves on the frontlines of the pandemic, delivering food and groceries to those able to work from home, comprehensive reform to grant those workers benefits like paid sick leave or overtime fell off the agenda.
  

• While gig workers in New York are broadly classified as independent contractors – two court rulings this year add some nuance. In March, just days after New York entered its pandemic lockdown, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that Postmates delivery workers could receive unemployment benefits. The court found that the relationship between a former Postmates driver and the platform did in fact constitute an employer-employee relationship, despite the company’s claims that its workers are self-employed.
  

• Then, in July, a federal judge in New York ruled that the state must begin paying unemployment benefits to Uber and Lyft drivers, affirming a 2018 ruling that Uber drivers and other “similarly situated” drivers should be considered employees for the purposes of unemployment insurance.
  

• The two court rulings are limited in the kind of benefits they extend and address only two kinds of gig workers. They don’t suddenly make Uber drivers eligible for overtime pay or give Postmates workers the right to organize. They also hold no immediate impacts for on-demand dog walkers or handymen. But together, union and labor leaders say they are an important first step of recognizing that these kinds of app-based gig workers should be considered employees for the purposes of all employment benefits.

Uber Fined $649 Million for Saying Drivers Aren’t Employees

sources: The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, The New York Times, Inequality.org, Center for New York City Affairs, Gothamist & Quartz
years: 2018 & 2019

• New Jersey has demanded that Uber pay $649 million for years of unpaid employment taxes for its drivers, arguing that the ride-hailing company has misclassified the workers as independent contractors and not as employees.
  

• In California, a new law could require that workers be designated as employees, allowing them to gain access to basic protections like minimum wage and unemployment insurance. Pushed by labor groups, similar legislation has taken root in New York, Oregon, and Washington State. In New York City, drivers for ride-hailing apps now receive a minimum wage, though they are not classified as employees.

NYC’s New Driver Wage Law Means the Days of Cheap Uber Rides Are Over (2019)

• Starting today, drivers for certain ride-hail apps in New York City will see a significant pay bump, while drivers for other apps will not.

• Essentially, the method used to calculate the new driver rates entails a “roaming charge” where riders are paying higher prices in order to compensate drivers for their time on the road without a passenger. We believe that simple changes to the way the TLC applies the rule would allow us to reduce prices for riders without impacting the minimum driver pay of at least $27.86 per hour.

• Lyft and Juno filed separate lawsuits arguing that the new law would put them at a competitive disadvantage to Uber. The utilization formula is unfair, they argue, because Uber has more users and can keep drivers busier. The law will ultimately fail to raise driver wages because it will depress customer demand, Lyft contends.

• Update: Lyft emerged from its hearing with Judge Masley declaring victory. The judge granted its request for a temporary restraining order, after previously denying it, a Lyft spokesperson said. But while the lawsuit works its way through the court, Lyft says it will be raising driver pay to a minimum of $17.22 per hour paid on a weekly basis, which is not in accordance with the TLC’s utilization formula.

NYC Mayor Ends Plan to Curb Uber After Celebrity, Political Backlash (2015)

• New York Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped a proposal to cap the growth of ride-hailing service Uber after the plan ignited a backlash from the company, its allies, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and even model Kate Upton.

• The city council had been expected to take up two bills related to the plan as soon as Thursday. One would have restricted the growth of fleets with 500 or more cars to 1 percent while officials studied congestion, a report that would have been due April 30.

• The plan pitted de Blasio, who is backed by the yellow-taxi industry, against Uber, which has grown to include 19,000 vehicles and is expanding about 3 percent a month.

• Uber executives say the planned council action would have threatened its business model. The company's television ads depicted de Blasio as captive to campaign donors.

New York Taxi Workers Defeat Uber and Lyft with Landmark Legislation (2018)

• After years of agitating for ride-sharing regulations to protect their livelihoods, New York taxi workers have finally won a vehicle cap and pay floor — a landmark victory that they hope will allow all city drivers to make a sustainable living.

• A city-commissioned study found that 85 percent of app-based drivers make less than the proposed wage floor of $17.22 an hour.

• The win belongs to the drivers, like the ones of New York’s iconic yellow cabs, who have banded together as the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, or NYTWA. The union has a remarkable track record, with victories including a living wage standard and a driver’s bill of rights. The union — made up mostly of Muslim immigrants — also sparked one of the most powerful protests of U.S. President Donald Trump when drivers refused to pick up passengers at JFK airport in response to the Muslim ban.

• The drivers have won sweeping legislation that will cap the number of for-hire vehicles on the road for a year while city officials study how app-based services affect the industry. The legislation also includes a minimum pay standard that will force ride-sharing companies to ensure their drivers can make a reasonable living.

Rideshare and Food Delivery Insurance in New York

sources: WRSH & Primerus
years: 2019 & 2020

• As a review of New York insurance requirements, New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) requires every owner of a motor vehicle to maintain minimum levels of insurance.
  

• At the very minimum, all drivers in New York are required to have insurance in place to cover property damage, death, and bodily injury to another person. The liability coverage requirements for TNC drivers are divided up based on whether they have accepted a passenger for a ride or not:

  • When there is no passenger in the car, Uber/Lyft drivers are required to have an insurance policy set at $75,000 per person for death or bodily injury to another, $25,000 for property damage to another, and $150,000 per occurrence for death and bodily injury to more than one person.

  • After a driver has accepted a passenger and is driving to their destination, Uber and Lyft must provide minimum liability coverage of $1.25 million, along with an additional $1.25 million for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.)

  • However, if an accident occurs while the rideshare driver is engaged in providing rideshare services in his or her personal vehicle, the driver’s personal auto policy may not provide coverage. Use of a personal auto as a taxi or livery vehicle is typically excluded in a personal auto policy by a “livery exclusion.” Therefore, the rideshare driver obviously needs supplemental coverage in order to cover any gaps.

  • In response to this dilemma, the insurance industry has come up with products to cover the rideshare risk and has developed different coverages based upon the stage of use of the vehicle.

  • While you would think the rideshare insurance requirements would extend to Uber Eats, Instacart, DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates, etc., (Food Delivery Apps), coverage for drivers involved in delivery of food for those companies differs from their rideshare counterpart.

  • Despite its similarity to the rideshare business, Food Delivery Apps are not subjected to the same New York regulations and may not have any available coverage in some circumstances.

  • Food Delivery App services do not fall under the definition of TNC under the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law.

Insurance for Ridesharing Drivers with Uber in New York State

source: Uber
year: 2019

• Pursuant to New York’s ridesharing laws, Uber Transportation Network Company Driver Partners (TNC Drivers) are insured by Uber’s group ridesharing insurance while connected to the Digital Network.

New York City Drivers Cooperative Aims to Smash Uber’s Exploitative Model

source: In These Times
year: 2020

• A woman who said that a half dozen passengers get into her car without a mask every week, but if she objects, they give her a low rating. ​“She has to make this choice between ensuring that she’s safe and the potential threat of deactivation.”

E-scooters Legalized in New York City, Shared Scooter Pilot to Launch

source: Intelligent Transport
year: 2020

• New York City councilors have voted on bills to legalize the use of electric bikes and scooters throughout the city. The legislation will remove restrictions on three classes of electric bicycles with top speeds under 25 miles per hour and electric scooters with top speeds under 20 miles per hour.
  

• As part of the legalization, the New York Department of Transportation (DOT) is required to create a year-long pilot program for the operation of shared electric scooters in New York City. Neighborhoods underserved by public transit, lacking options for last-mile connections to transit stations, or underserved by existing dock-based bike-share programs will be given priority in determining the geographic boundaries of the pilot program.
  

• DOT approval would be required in order to offer shared electric scooter rentals, and unauthorized shared electric scooters may be impounded. The bill would also require that the DOT report to the Council on the progress of the program and issue recommendations to the Council regarding the creation of a permanent shared electric scooter program.

The Scooter Battle for NYC Is On

source: Tech Crunch
year: 2020

• New York City, one of the most coveted shared micromobility markets in the industry, has released its request for interest in its electric scooter pilot, officially kicking off what promises to be a competitive battle among companies vying for a chance to operate their businesses in the city.
  

• The pilot program must launch by March 1, 2021. The New York City Council will continue to work with DOT on determining where to set up the pilot. If the pilot program limits the service area it could prove a failure, several e-scooter companies and advocates previously told TechCrunch. Manhattan is off-limits, leaving four other boroughs, including the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.
  

• Bird promised to prioritize equity, safety, access, and effective parking solutions. Spin went even further and made recommendations of what the program should look like; a tactic aimed at rooting out some possible contenders.
  

• Spin said it suggested the NYC’s transportation agency require scooter companies to deploy in so-called equity zones and reduce fare for low-income residents by at least 50% and provide a means to rent the devices without a smartphone. Spin also says the program should place a 2,000 scooter cap per vendor with only three to four companies receiving a permit. It also suggests the city requires adaptive scooter devices, a lock-to tech that ensures scooters are affixed to bike infrastructure and that companies use a W-2 workforce with a requirement to hire locally.