Trip Generation and Taxicabs: How Uber Has Revolutionized the Ride Sharing Industry

Abstract

This paper examines how the introduction of Uber has affected the pre-existing taxicab industry. More explicitly, we research how trip origin demographic characteristics influence both the number of Uber and taxicab trips completed within the same city and how the magnitude of their influence differs between the two. We contain the scope of our study to the boundaries of Manhattan by utilizing Uber and taxicab trip data obtained from FiveThirtyEight and the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission respectively. The American Community Survey 2011-2015 also provided us with the demographic data used throughout our study. We find that the median household income, number of no car households, population, and race of a given area all hold explanatory power in both Uber and taxicab trip generation, but to different magnitudes. Moreover, we find a trend in the overall decrease of taxicab trips completed within Manhattan. However, we find no evidence of Uber drivers crowding out taxicab drivers, but rather that the two are highly positively correlated. These findings imply that the demographic make-up of Uber and taxicab riders differs slightly and that the introduction of Uber has revolutionized the ride sharing industry.