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According to an MIT study, a fleet of 3,000 ride-sharing cars (like Uber or Lyft) could completley displace the entire fleet of regular taxi cabs in New York City.
"By transporting more than one passenger at a time, the 3,000 cars could serve 98% of taxi demand in New York, with an average wait time of just 2.7 minutes.
Moreover, 95% of taxi demand in the city would be covered by 2,000 ten-person vehicles, compared to the fleet of 14,000 taxis that operate in New York City."
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Comments
This is a big assumption here: "By transporting more than one passenger at a time". This particular article is a bit misleading. The actually study says:
"One way to improve traffic is through ride-sharing - and a new MIT study suggests that using carpooling options from companies like Uber and Lyft could reduce the number of vehicles on the road 75 percent without significantly impacting travel time."
The study isn't necessarily talking about all Uber and Lyft's services. It's talking about the CARPOOLING potentials like UberPool and Lyft Line.
Right, and it assumes that everyone uses them. It's a best-case scenario, but the fact is many people don't want to ride with strangers. I mean, if they did, they'd just take the subway![cool]()
Well, if it were just talking about the "on-demand" capabilities of rideshare services like Uber and Lyft, then the traditional limos should be able to do the same thing. (despite the adoption may be a problem. Using the apps is super easy, instead of calling your cars.)
So basically there are 11,000 empty taxis cruising around NYC is what they are saying. I find this hard to believe, most taxis I see have someone riding in them.
Well I think the point is that IF they could employ a more efficient system, where people traveling the same direction could be grouped together into one car, they could cut down on the number of cars required. I'm surprised it's by such a drastic amount, although NYC is kind of a unique case. I doubt the numbers would be quite so impressive in other cities.
It's also kind of funny that they write this with the rideshare vs. taxi angle. I mean, from what they are saying, it doesn't matter whether they are Ubers or Lyfts or Taxis, just that 3,000 cars could do the work of the current fleet...
I haven't read the MIT study, but does it assume the rideshare cars are constantly utilized? I feel like there's some fuzzy math going on here.