In less than six months, Uber and Lyft have taken over the for-hire transportation market in Portland.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation today released new data from the first four months of a pilot program designed to help the city figure out how to regulate the new ride-hailing companies.
The data shows that by the end of August, Uber and Lyft had 60 percent of the for-hire market share in Portland. That’s a stark contrast from when the pilot program launched in May and taxi services had 70 percent market share, the city reported.
This graph from the bureau tells the story, with taxi rides represented by red and Uber/Lyft (also known as transportation network companies) rides in blue:
Another data point: Taxis provided an average of 5,500 rides per day compared to 2,300 TNC rides in May. By August, TNCs were providing more than 8,000 rides per day, while taxis provided an average of 4,500 rides per day.
That means during May to August, total ridership among taxi companies decreased by 16 percent. Uber and Lyft, meanwhile, saw a 125 percent increase during the same time.
Having TNCs as a transportation option also encouraged more people to ditch their own cars. Between May and August, overall for-hire ridership in Portland increased by 40 percent with more than 1 million trips provided.
“This increase can reasonably be attributed to several factors,” the report notes. “Most notably, these numbers strongly suggest that prior to the PFHT Innovation Pilot Program, consumer demand for paid transportation services far outpaced the available supply of taxicabs in Portland. Four months into the Pilot, aggregated ridership data suggests that consumer demand is being better served.”
Bottom line in Portland: Uber and Lyft are helping meet demand for more for-hire transportation. It remains to be seen if the market share shift from taxi companies to TNCs continues to grow, or perhaps has leveled off now that Uber and Lyft are settled in.
Regardless, this is the same pattern we’ve seen across the country as ride-hailing companies continue taking away business from taxis. In Seattle, for example, taxi revenue declined 28 percent over the past two years since uberX and Lyft began offering rides in the city.
Uber and Lyft were required to provide data to the City of Portland as part of the pilot program, which also ditched fare restrictions and driver caps for taxi companies. The two companies were legalized back in April after a dramatic back-and-forth between Uber and city officials.
Speaking in Portland in May, former Uber Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategy David Plouffe — who remains at the company as a board member and advisor — said that Uber helps fill an unmet need in Portland’s transportation system, particularly for people whose only option to get around was to drive their own vehicle.
“What Uber and services like it have provided is an equality of transportation,” he said. “No matter where you live in the city, you can press a button.”
