This is a struggling discussion among many college students and those who live in taxi prevalent cities. Uber is a new transportation method sweeping across the nation. Any user who downloads the free app can request a pick up from a local driver who is employed by uber. The drivers get their own hours, use their own cars, and are tracked using the mobile app. This is an easy method for many who don’t want to go through the trouble of hailing a cab. Before you even leave your room you can have a driver set up with a pick up location and know their name, car type, and their face! It is an excellent method to travel. Or is it? I was a heavy uber user especially during the time where I had an internship in State College outside of the campus. It was difficult to get to without a car and no buses made the trip. It was working great and it seemed as if ubers were running the campus. Recently however I have seen a shift. It was difficult to find uber drivers and fairs skyrocketed. I found myself using taxis at more than half the price of an uber and just as reliable. I decided to take a look into a major city where this problem is displayed on a larger scale and see if there are any studies based on these largely competitive companies.

New York City, a prevailing leader in the taxi cab industry. Recognized around the world is the New York City yellow taxi. They flood the streets of the concrete jungle. Uber and NYC taxi are at the break of war as uber has taken a large portion of the market. There is ample circumstantial evidence of the damage Uber has brought on New York’s yellow cab industry. It came to the point where “earlier this year city officials tried to come to traditional taxis’ aid, by threatening to cap the growth of “for-hire” cars (the category that includes Uber vehicles) on the grounds that they were exacerbating congestion—though the government temporarily backed down after Uber launched an aggressive public-relations campaign against it, and agreed to delay the proposed limits until the completion of a traffic study in November.” These are bold moves by both competitors. To continue the demolition of uber’s reputation, on August 5th the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), the industry’s regulator, released figures on every NYC taxi journey from 2014 to June 2015. This graph is the proof both sides needed to understand whether uber was taking business from the taxi services or if it was just filling in the already empty gap that other public services have taken away from the taxis already. Overall we can see there were 333,000 Uber rides in June 2013. With 14.4m taxi trips that month we see a total of 14.7m. According to the economist “by the same month of this year, the combined sum for Uber plus traditional taxis was 15.8m. This 7.5% increase in two years makes clear that the market is not zero-sum, and that the benefits enjoyed by Uber and its customers and drivers have not come entirely at yellow cabs’ expense.” This is avid proof of users impact on the taxi companies. But we can’t stop there, we still see some fishy evidence. While Uber expanded “approximately tenfold over the past two years,” from a couple hundred thousand rides to a couple million rides. On the other hand taxis fell by 2.1m during the same period. Over all we see that, “35% of the growth in Uber rides during this 24-month period has been in addition to the preexisting market demand, leaving 65% that has replaced trips that would otherwise have gone to taxis.”

That does put some damage on users reputation to hurting the beloved taxis. But if we put the numbers away and stick to the basics of tastes we can see proof in this graph. During late night hours uber tends to rise. This is based on the principle of passengers  value Uber’s advantages in convenience and comfort. “Taxi rides between 11pm to 5am have fallen by 22% since June 2013, whereas trips at all other times are only off by 12%.” Ubers from personal experience are cleaner, nicer, and you don’t have to sit in the very old gross cab millions have sat in and stare at a dirty bullet proof window. The backseat looks like the back of a cop car. Overall uber’s are more of a pleasing ride. But if you are looking for the comfort and style uber offers you maybe you are one of many who is willing to pay. But with the finances of a college student sometimes the cheaper option is just the best option.  We can see some of users impact on taxis but is uber all to blame?

Within the last couple years citi bike stations have poped up all across New York City. Citi bike is a public bike service where a simple use of a touchscreen monitor and swipe of credit card you can be on your way with a bike for close and efficient transportation. This is also a cofounding variable hidden in the shadows of uber’s spotlight. We can also contribute other variables of transportation to buses, trains, and subway systems but there is little to no evidence to support this. These are all other modes of transportation that could contribute to the downfall of the taxi. As of now we are in a very large correlational stage of this debate and depending on whether the city puts ordinances on uber we may say good bye to the taxi and hello to the uber!