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The ride-hailing red herring

Brandon Donnelly avatar Brandon Donnelly
Cover image for The ride-hailing red herring

There's a lot of data/speculation out there about the impact of ride-hailing apps. Many dense urban centers are claiming that they have increased traffic (slowed average speeds) and pulled people away from public transit. The University of Toronto published this study last year. And the WSJ recently published this chart for Chicago:

To be honest, I'm not sure how much of the above is a result of ride-hailing apps, overall urban growth, e-commerce deliveries , public transit disinvestment, or other factors. But what is clear is that ride-hailing is pretty convenient and most (if not all) cities are seeing massive growth in this space.

But all of this feels to me like a bit of a red herring. People will obviously choose what is most convenient and relatively affordable. And congestion was a problem well before people started using these apps (demand > road supply). The only solution I have seen work is to price congestion/roads.

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Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.