Ridehailing Demand Is Resilient Among Low-Income Travelers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major shifts in the use of various means of travel, including ridehailing services (e.g., Uber or Lyft). Downward trends in ridehailing unsurprisingly emerged as lockdown orders reduced overall travel. The shock to the ridehailing industry came as the industry was experiencing considerable growth and facing increased regulatory control. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, examined how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the use of ridehailing and other travel behaviors among various sociodemographic groups. They conducted surveys prior to and during the early stages of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to measure changes in household activities, personal preferences, and travel patterns. The findings discussed in this policy brief are based on the analysis of the information provided by 1,274 respondents who participated in the survey both before the pandemic (2018- 2019) and during the early stage of the pandemic (spring 2020). View the NCST Project Webpag