Rider Rideshare Survey 2018; How Rideshares are Improving your Quality of Life

How do riders really feel about rideshares? Is bike-sharing the new future of transportation?

Thanks to the many RideGuru fans who completed a joint rideshare survey conducted by RideGuru, Bellhop, and The Rideshare Guy, we now have more insight into how our communities use and view rideshare services.

With over 1,000 total respondents, this comprehensive survey was the largest of its kind focused on passenger rideshare use. Respondents spent over 150 hours answering 41 in-depth questions across rideshare habits, spend, impact, future technologies as well as other shared mobility options such as bikes and scooters.

The survey results have been fascinating, with many respondents claiming rideshares have increased their sociability, earning potential, and networking abilities. In addition, the survey also revealed that ridesharing services have caused a decrease in car ownership and have prevented many riders from driving under the influence.

This survey ran from Thursday, August 9, 2018 to Tuesday, September 4, 2018. See below for a survey summary infographic and RideGuru's take on the insights. To view the original Press Release please click here.

Survey Summary

Survey Insights - RideGuru's Take

How often do people take rideshares? According to our survey respondents 35% of people take rideshares at least once per week. On top of that 68% of people see themselves riding even more in the future. We knew that ridesharing has become a preferred method of transportation but these figures were even higher than we expected. Not so surprising is that rideshare company preference still highly favors Uber with 57% of respondents stating that they use Uber the most, followed by 29% for Lyft. The remaining 14% were split among Juno, Via, Arro, and others.

While it is clear that people are taking rideshares more and more, we also found that respondents in general have a positive attitude towards ridesharing. 23% of respondents stated that ridesharing has overall given them the ability to "lead a better life" and breaking this statement down further we found that the top reasons ridesharing is making our society happier is that people feel they are more social (24%) and have an increase in productivity (23%). In fact, perhaps we all should be campaigning for our bosses to pay our rideshare tab as 13% of you stated that without ridesharing you would be late for work a lot more!

What is Uber Pool? Apparently Uber Pool riders are still in the minority with only 7% of respondents using Uber's Pool option for a majority of their rides. 48% have never pooled before! So what is Uber Pool for those of you who are in that 48%? Uber Pool is where 2 or more different groups of people request an Uber ride and all take the same vehicle. With Uber Pool, Uber will match up riders going in similar directions in an effort to save passengers money (riders split the cost) and reduce pollution and traffic. Uber Pool rides are very cheap but may take longer as you will be picking and dropping off passengers along the way.

While Uber Pool may not be for everyone, those who have used the service have found it to be quite beneficial. 14% claim they have been offered work through connections made in pool rides, 32% made friends or useful connections through pool rides, and even 3 lucky respondents stated that they married someone they met in a pool ride!

Similar to Pool Rides, bike sharing usage is still in the very early stages with only 14% of respondents stating that they were regular users of bike or scooter shares. However, 30% could see themselves using this mode of transportation more in the future and 46% were open to the idea of using a combination of bikes and cars to get to their destination. With Uber and Lyft both recently acquiring on-demand bike platforms this statistic would make their investors very happy. Our guess is it is only a matter of time until you will be able to order multiple modes of transportation at once.

Not surprisingly, the top issue most respondents have with rideshares is surge pricing. Since the beginning of rideshares, riders have complained endlessly about the supply and demand based surge pricing model that Uber introduced to the transportation industry. Did you know that you can use RideGuru to find the companies in your area that do not use surge pricing? Through our Fare Comparison Calculator you can filter your ride options by clicking on the "fixed" box under "Filters" then "Pricing". The second largest rideshare gripe is drivers who take a longer route than necessary.

One rideshare initiative we have always upheld at RideGuru is transparency when it comes to driver pay. Apparently, this is a common shared value with our fans as 50% of survey respondents stated that drivers should get higher commissions from rideshare companies. There are a few companies out there who strive to treat their drivers better and if you are interested in finding one of these companies in your area you can check out our driver payout feature.

Rideshares are not only becoming a favorite mode of transportation but they are changing the way we lead our lives. A staggering 63% of respondents said rideshares had stopped them from possibly driving under the influence. This is truly remarkable and all rideshare drivers out there should give themselves a pat on the back for helping to change the way our society views drinking and driving.

Finally, with the recent news surrounding NYC regulating rideshares, we asked respondents if they agreed or disagreed with cities who want to implement rideshare regulation. The results were astounding with 89% of people stating that they do not think cities should implement rideshare regulation. It appears as though riders and Uber have something in common after all!

If you would like to inquire further about this joint rideshare survey, please contact us or discuss the findings on our forum.



Further Survey information:
The survey was promoted jointly by RideGuru, Bellhop, and The Rideshare Guy. No payments were
made for any responses. Respondents entered a prize drawing for one of four $25 gift certificates which
were selected at random. All answers were given anonymously.