Survey respondents who said they used both a ride-hailing service and a taxi cab within the past year were more likely to prefer ride-booking platforms to taxi use in a variety of polled scenarios, including if there were as inclement weather, during peak traffic, late at night or going on a trip of fewer less than 30 minutes.
The only instance where a plurality of U.S. adults who have used both services said they preferred taxis was when ride-hailing services were experiencing surge pricing -- a period when normal fares are increased due to higher demand for drivers or an excess number of riders. Forty-two percent of these respondents said they preferred using taxis -- which generally have set fares based on wait times, distance traveled, and other factors -- during these high-cost periods, while 34 percent still preferred ride-hailing apps, and another 24 percent didn’t know or had no opinion.
In response to an increase in ride-hailing usership and traffic congestion, along with a subsequent decline in taxi ridership, the New York City Council voted in August to cap the number of licenses available to ride-hailing services for one year, the first such limit placed by a major U.S. city on ride-hailing platforms.
Johnice Earle, a business agent with the Washington D.C. Taxi Operators Association, said she “absolutely” believes there should be a cap on the number of ride-hailing drivers operating within the District of Columbia, saying that “if there are 10 digital dispatch operators for every one taxi cab, there is no balance” between services. But Earle said D.C. has not yet taken the lead in pursuing any such proposal.
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