Uber vs. Public Transit : friend or foe? An Empirical Study of Ridership Trends Across Uber Cities in the USA

Uber is a disruptive transportation network company (TNC) that is affecting the way people move in cities. While its effects on the taxi industry are increasingly clear, little research has been conducted to study its effect on public transit ridership. This study uses descriptive statistics to establish demographic and socio-economic profiles of cities that Uber has targeted, and a quasi difference-in-difference analysis to explore Uber's effect on transit ridership levels in order to determine whether the service is acting as a complement or substitute to public transit. The results from this high-level study suggest that Uber my be more of a complement to transit over time, and in large dense regions with highly-educated, affluent, productive labour markets that already have very high transit ridership. Finally, recommendations informed by these findings are offered for transit agencies, policy makers, and municipal governments as they continue to determine how to regulate Uber and similar ride sourcing services