The Impact of Uber on the Taxi Industry




Despite widespread protest by those in the taxi industry against sharing economy platforms such as Uber and Lyft, the impact these companies have had on the income of taxi drivers is muted. A study conducted by Oxford Martin School's Carl Benedikt Frey has revealed that, while Uber has resulted in a fall in income for taxi drivers of around 10%, it also resulted in a 50% rise in the number of self-employed drivers in a city.

Frey concludes that "traditional jobs have not been displaced" and that "while some have seen a loss in income, Uber has created more jobs than it has destroyed." Furthermore, employment has also risen in traditional taxi services.

In this study, Uber drivers were found to earn more than those in traditional taxi services. This is because the Uber software allows drivers to better optimize their time and driving patterns. However, this hasn't completely put taxi services out of business because companies such as Uber and Lyft have significantly increased the size of the market. This means that, even though taxis have much more competition now, the number of people wanting to hail rides has increased as well, essentially balancing everything out for them.


Source:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2017/01/26/study-explores-the-impact-of-uber-on-the-taxi-industry/#64b36c1f16b0

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 23, 2019 at 11:43 AM

    This is a super applicable post! I was traveling this past spring break for college visits and noticed the vast extent as to which Uber has taken over the taxi industry. I think it's very true that the preferences are definitely changing, but I was intrigued by the point you made about wages. I looked deeper into this and even though Uber drivers may make more of a gross profit, their costs per mile are also substantially greater than taxis because they use their own vehicles. In fact, the median profit for Uber drivers is $3.37 per hour with 74% of drivers earning less than their state's minimum wage. Thus, I believe that the convenience of Uber is taken at the expense of the living wages of employees.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/02/mit-study-shows-how-much-driving-for-uber-or-lyft-sucks/

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 23, 2019 at 3:13 PM

    Great post! This also reminded me of the Lyft bicycles and scooter services they are now offering to people. When I was in SF last week, I saw many individuals using the Lyft app to use a bike/scooter at their own convenience. Lyft has recently bought Motivate, which is the biggest bike-share company, and their goal is to now provide a way for people to easily get around while also saving the environment. However, whether this method makes profit for the company is still unknown. Although there were more than 1.8 million rides in New York last year during May, there is still uncertainty about whether this will increase Lyft's revenue. I do believe that even if the company does not make a lot of money, they should continue to have these services, as it helps to both eases transportation and promotes environmental protection.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/02/its-official-lyft-bikes-is-now-a-thing/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousApril 23, 2019 at 8:21 PM

      I recently went to Washington D.C with a friend of mine and her dad who happened to invest in in Lime scooters! I personally enjoyed using them because they are relatively cheap and easy to manage on your phone. The only flaw however is that if you are with another person and also in a rush, you don't have time to go looking for two scooters especially if one is a couple of blocks away from the other.

      Delete

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