Uber-Positive: Ride-Share Firm Expands Transportation Options in Low-Income New York
Ride-sharing services—notably, Uber—increasingly provide New Yorkers in lower-income and minority neighborhoods beyond core Manhattan with a service that complements city-authorized taxis. In so doing, ride-sharing is expanding the range of available for-hire vehicle service—thereby reducing inequities in service availability in NYC’s transportation market.
- In 2014, only 6 percent of yellow-taxi pickups were outside Manhattan or outside city airports—compared with 22 percent for UberX.
- In 2014, of UberX rides in noncore Manhattan and non-airport zip codes in December, 60 percent were in zip codes with median household income below the noncore Manhattan median—up from 54 percent in January.
- In 2014, in the 29 noncore Manhattan and non-airport zip codes with one or more UberX pickups per household, neighborhoods served ranged from Greenpoint and Park Slope—where less than 5 percent of households are black—to Crown Heights and Harlem, where more than 75 percent of households are black.
This piece originally appeared in American Banker
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