Pretty much everyone agrees that congestion has gotten worse in Manhattan and some nearby neighborhoods. Some people blame Uber and other e-hail services: about 2,000 new FHV licenses are being issued each month by the TLC. Others say it's more complicated: it depends on what people using Uber or Lyft would have done if they didn't use an e-hail service. (Also see this recent analysis of 2015 pickup data.)
Here's what does seem to be known so far:
- Taxi pickups have been declining: more than 14% in the CBD, and about 13% elsewhere
- From April to September 2014, Uber pickups increased by 82%; much of this was increase in non-Manhattan market share.
- The largest proportion of both Uber and taxi pickups are in the CBD. Uber: 76% in first half of 2014; 69% in first half of 2015 vs. Taxis: 62%
- Uber does proportionately more pickups in the outer boroughs than taxis. Uber: 22% in first half of 2014; 33% by July 2015 vs. Taxis: 14%.
- Uber is busiest between 5 PM and 6 PM, when taxi pixkups dip because of shift change. It's least busy on Sundays, when green cab rides peak.
- Both Uber and taxis are serving predominantly riders from higher-income households. In 2014 data, Uber outerborough pickups concentrated in Riverdale, Little Neck and College Point, while taxis dominated in northwestern Queens.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission has a lot of data on taxis; not so much on Uber. (Here's the short version (PDF); raw data here and here.) In late summer, the City and Uber seemed to agree to cooperate with a group of experts, the Technology Advisory Group, to study the impact of e-hail services, with Uber promising access to more operating data. But at MBP Gail Brewer's public hearing in mid-September, Uber representatives said a good congestion study would take a year. Now, Uber has hired its own consultant to do a study. And the City has hired a consultant whose report is due December 1. While we waiting for the experts to crunch data, tell us your story if you use Uber or another e-hail service:
(If you use a ride-share service like Via or UberPool, please comment Topic 2.3 - ride share services instead.)
► If you use Uber or another e-hail service, when? where? and why?
► If you weren't using an e-hail service, how would you be getting to your destination?
Whether or not e-hail services are taking business from taxis or public transit, another concern is whether they are adding to congestion (especially in the CBD) by cruising between jobs. Uber says it tells drivers not to cruise, and that drivers won't do it because it wastes gas. But so far, only Uber has the data to know for sure.
And this might be a no-win situation anyway for e-hail services: If drivers aren't cruising between pickups, are they taking up scarce legal street parking? or double-parking or waiting in loading zones?
► If you drive for Uber or another e-hail service, how much of your time is spent cruising? If you aren't cruising, where are you parking between pickups?
Comments7
Commenting is now closed.
TPK2
November 9, 2015 - 10:21am
I see most people use uber when they have to carry a alot of things, when the subway is too crowded, when the work pays, when want to go home from work *far more use to go home than to get to*, and they hate hailing taxis. But if taxis were easy to hail lots of people would use taxis instead of uber. And I never cruise--costtoo much and frustrating. I have a few nice spots that I go to where I'm out of the way until time to get on the road
Moderator
November 9, 2015 - 8:55pm
Hi TPK2, thank you for your experience on when people use e-hails. Do you think that e-hails are just replacing taxis and not adding new car service users? If so, is that based on what your riders say or something else?
The-Stein
November 23, 2015 - 1:13pm
The problem isn't Uber, the problem is taxis. Taxi drivers sit in the middle of the road, hold up traffic, and are generally poor drivers with zero incentive to allow traffic to move past them. How many times have you seen taxi drivers cause gridlock or sit on the horn non-stop?
Uber allows riders to hop in the car and hop out upon arrival, instead of the terrible process where taxis sit in the middle of the road for 40-60 seconds at the rider pays and exits.
Also, if the subways were on-time and consistent, thousands of people wouldn't NEED to rely on Uber to get around...
Moderator
November 24, 2015 - 10:49am
Thank you for your comment, The-Stein. Given that there are statistics to indicate that Uber is fast replacing taxi rides throughout Manhattan, do you think replacing Uber with taxis would reduce travel time?
infinitesunrise
November 24, 2015 - 11:50am
I don't use cabs to get to and from work in the CBD, although looking out at the street from my office window it's very obvious that many do! In all honesty though, when looking at traffic holistically (Commercial vehicles, personal cars, busses, cabs) I don't consider cabs to be high on the list of egregious contributors to congestion seeing as they can and do absolutely fill in the 'missing links' of our transit system. A lot of UWS and UES residents take taxis to work in midtown to avoid the nightmare of congestion on the 123 / 456 subways at rush hour and because at that brief distance the cost is reasonable. My girlfriend and I take cabs home within Brooklyn whenever we're out late with friends so that we don't have to wait inebriated on a subway platform. The sick and elderly take cabs to their appointments. I feel that with the reality of a congested public transit system, cabs are great at efficiently filling in the 'gaps', without having to worry so much about where they'll be parked when not in use, because the beauty of it is that they're always in use. We have larger offenders to worry about than cabs.
That said, there is room for improvement. 1) The number of cabs should absolutely be capped, not at an arbitrary low number meant to keep taxi medallions valuable, but at a number that ensures all cabbies will always have a hail to pick up, preventing the system from becoming saturated and from cabbies circling the block without a fare. 2) All cabs should be linked into an e-hail system so that cabbies can be aware of nearby fares and not have to hunt for them 3) All cabs should have the ability to enter payment information en-route to avoid delays upon arrival.
jamesarrufat
November 25, 2015 - 10:34am
We use uber/arro when it is convenient. From home to school. From dinner out to home. Mostly.
I try to use the Arro app, it is great of easy payment. Not so great in e hailing.
The fact that Uber is quick and convenient and has catered to the customer, and not the taxi driver is not customer friendly.
Clear car vs dirty
Quick and professional vs get what you get
Easy payment vs Complaints about paying with a card
Available during busy times vs Shift change in the middle of the busiest time.
if I do not use e-hail service I would take mass transit.
cferrejo
January 5, 2016 - 7:03pm
NY politicians chose to only enforce traffic rules that satisfy there political position. This creates Chaos and feeds bad behavior. Uber cars and taxi's are commercial vehicles that should be ticketed for parking on residential area's over night. Motorized bikes;mini-bikes and tandem bikes towing small children in bike lanes with and against traffic will create a serious accident. Why do people have to die in an accident before we enforce traffic laws. These on-going actions need to be ticketed.