By Quincy Midthun
Nearly all trips taken in some cities by ridehail services, such as Uber or Lyft, could be taken by transit, according to new research. That means the excess traffic those trips create could be prevented, with the right incentives. To encourage people to opt for transit instead of ridehail, transit agencies can pursue strategies to shorten walk and wait times associated with transit.
A recent study from researchers at the University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon University used data from rideshare trips—also known as transportation network company (TNC) trips—in Chicago from January 2022 to May 2023 and compared the duration and the total fare of the trips to if those same trips were taken using transit. They concluded that 99% could have been taken by transit or walking, adding, “61% could be taken by bus, 17% by using both subway and bus, 14% by only subway, and 5% by walking.”
Whether people choose ridehail or transit depends on how they weigh travel time and cost. Though often significantly cheaper, the study points out that, “transit trips take substantially longer than TNC trips, mainly due to higher waiting and walking times.” The authors explain:
“The results show that transit trips include an average of 10–20 min of walking and 5–20 min of waiting for each transit mode, and overall median trip duration is 30–50 min for bus and subway modes. In contrast, TNC trips only require an average of 5 min […] of waiting.”
If those waiting and walking times could be cut in half, the authors note, people would have to place a much higher value on their time to choose ridehail—an increase from $34 dollar per hour currently to more than $50 per hour.
For cities wanting to reduce traffic and emissions, converting rideshare trips to transit trips can make a significant impact. This study offers strategies to encourage this shift like expanding transit services and increasing their frequency:
“Waiting and walking are a large share of the duration of a transit trip. This can be mitigated by expanding services and increasing their frequency, both of which might lower load factors and therefore increase externalities. In turn, this may be mitigated by higher overall ridership.”
Photo credit: Laura James via Pexels. License.