Lyft is a less expensive way for business travelers who use ground transportation than Uber is. This information comes from data provided by Certify, a travel and expense management company.
The higher price of Uber has not undercut its popularity, which has passed that of cabs. Certify researchers wrote in their second-quarter report on business travel trends:
Uber, the popular ridesharing service, continues to grow with business travelers, comprising 55% of ground transportation receipts compared with taxi services at 43%. In Q1, Uber had 46% of receipts compared with taxis at 53%. When including rental car data, Uber grew from 8% in Q2 of 2014 to 31% in Q2 of 2015. During that same 12-month period, taxi usage declined from 37% to 24%, while rental cars dropped from 55% to 45%. Top cities for Uber customers, based on percentage of receipts, are San Francisco (79%), followed by Dallas (60%) and Los Angeles (54%). Lyft, although comprising only 1% of ground transportation receipts, showed growth of 153% in ridership over Q1.
However, Lyft’s advantage was significant. The difference: “Lyft: $22.51 a ride compared with $30.03 for Uber and $34.48 for taxis.”
Lyft is not the only new age form of travel that has been adopted rapidly by business people:
Certify also measured business adoption of Airbnb, the fifth most popular online travel-booking site, specializing in online room rentals. While receipts from Airbnb are small, Certify’s data shows growth of 143% over Q1. Business travelers stay longer in Airbnb accommodations—3.8 nights compared with 2.1 in a hotel—and gave Airbnb a satisfaction rating of 4.72 stars, compared with 4.04 stars for hotels. The cities with the highest percentage of Airbnb bookings by business travelers are, in order, San Francisco, with customers spending an average of $558 per stay, followed by Chicago ($248), Seattle ($221), Miami ($139) and Tampa ($103).
Taxi owners in many cities have organized to hold off the presence of Lyft and Uber. Based on the Certify data, their efforts are less and less effective, at least as far as business travelers are concerned.
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