Four charts to help you understand how Uber is taking away taxi business

Uber and Lyft began a 120-day trial in Portland in late April after a long political battle, dozens of meetings and extensive lobbying. As a condition of receiving temporary operating licenses, the ride-hailing companies agreed to submit detailed operating data.

In August, the Portland City Council extended the trial period by seven months to allow for adjustments to regulations. At the same time, city officials began analyzing and compiling data for what is considered the first comprehensive report based on Uber’s proprietary information. Portland recently shared a copy of the report with Bloomberg, giving the public a detailed look at what happens when a city opens up to ride-hailing apps and how the taxi industry adapts.

It didn’t take long for Uber and Lyft to become as popular as local taxis. In May, taxis averaged 5,500 rides per day in Portland, a month later that number dropped to 4,500, and has remained roughly the same since then. Ride-hailing services, on the other hand, have continued to grow, averaging 2,300 rides per day in May and over 8,000 in August. Overall, Portlanders placed 100,000 more rides in August than in May. It’s worth noting that Portland has had an unusually hot and dry summer this year, so there’s not much reason to think the weather played much of a role.

In just seven weeks, Uber and Lyft have surpassed taxis in terms of weekend rides. While local taxis initially saw a dip in weekend rides, Portlanders were seeing thousands more rides in late August than they were in early May. Saturday nights are particularly popular. Typically, 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. is the only time when taxis offer more service. City officials believe this is because people are catching early flights at this time—they may have booked taxi pickups in advance, a service that Uber and Lyft don’t offer.

8% of taxi pickups were in East Portland, a low-income area, while only 3% of Uber and Lyft pickups were in this area. As summer approaches, Uber and Lyft are starting to pick up orders in less central areas, but these services are still more concentrated in the city center than taxis.

Uber and Lyft provided 13% of the 3,000 rides that required wheelchairs in the past four months, with taxis still accounting for the majority. These vehicles are more expensive to operate. In September, Uber expanded its wheelchair-accessible vehicle offerings, so future reports may give us a sense of whether this type of service will become a major transportation option for all Portlanders, or whether it will still be mainly for people traveling at night and on weekends. (Shu Yu)