I’d much rather catch an Uber or Lyft than rent a car or take a taxi.
. Michael Goldstein writing in Forbes explains:
Car-sharing companies Uber and Lyft are rapidly becoming the 800-pound gorillas of U.S. ground transportation for business travelers. And like any good pair of 800-pound gorillas, they continue to pound the opposition. In this case, it’s rental car providers and taxis taking the beating, according to a new report by travel and entertainment expense management software companyCertify.
The study, based on analysis of some 50 million receipts showed that for 2017, the ride-hailing pair accounted for 68% of overall ground transportation expenses (see chart above). Uber had 56% of all ground transportation receipts/expenses, a category that also included taxis and car rental services. Uber’s share grew slightly over 2016 when it had 52% of the market. However, the real market tiger in terms of growth was Lyft, which grew from 4% in 2016 to 12% in 2017.
Looking at an ever-shrinking share of the ground transportation pie were the long-suffering car rental and taxi companies. In 2016, car rentals were 33% of all ground transportation receipts/expenses. In 2017, car rentals comprised only 25%.
The picture was equally dismal for the once-ubiquitous taxicab. While taxis accounted for 11% of ground transportation expenses in 2016, they had slipped to just 7% by 2017. In fact, the only area where taxis led in the survey was in having the most costly average fare: the average cost of a taxi ride was $31.64, while the average Uber ride was $25.10 and the average Lyft fare was $20.63.
Via MJP