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The first Uber ride was on July 5, 2010 in San Francisco, CA. The app launched internationally in 2011 and reached one billion rides on Dec. 30, 2015, quickly followed by five billion on May 20, 2017 and 10 billion on June 10, 2018.
On May 22, 2012, Lyft launched in San Francisco as a part of Zimride and expanded to 60 cities in 2014 and to 100 more in 2017, at which point Lyft claimed more than one million rides a day. On Nov. 13, 2017, Lyft went international, allowing the company to reach one billion rides on Sep. 18, 2018.
Other ride-hailing and ride-sharing apps include Gett (which partners with Lyft in the US), Curb, Wingz, Via, Scoop, and Bridj.
36% of Americans said they used ride-hailing services such as Uber or Lyft, according to a Jan. 4, 2019 Pew Research Center Survey. Use is up significantly from 2015 when just 15% had used the apps.
But use varies among populations. 45% of urban residents, 51% of people who were 18 to 29, 53% of people who earned $75,000 or more per year, and 55% of people with college degrees, used the apps, compared to 19% of rural residents, 24% of people aged 50 or older, 24% of people who earn $30,000 or less per year, and 20% of people with a high school diploma or less.
In 2018, 70% of Uber and Lyft trips occurred in nine big metropolitan areas: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC.
Uber officially overtook yellow cabs in New York City in July 2017, when it reported an average of 289,000 trips per day compared to 277,000 taxi rides. [4] More than 2.61 billion ride-hailing trips were taken in 2017, a 37% increase over the 1.90 billion trips in 2016. Ride-hailing trips were down significantly in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PRO
- Ride-hailing apps are convenient, affordable, and safe for riders and other drivers.
- Ride-hailing companies create jobs and boost the economy.
- Ride-hailing increases mobility for seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income populations, and decreases discrimination experienced with taxis.
CON
- Ride-hailing services increase traffic congestion, emissions, and total vehicle miles traveled.
- Ride-hailing drivers earn low pay that is often below minimum wage.
- Ride-hailing services have a history of poor driver screening that puts passengers at risk.
This article was published on August 17, 2021, at Britannica’s ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source.