Ride-sharing is a vehicle service that matches drivers of private cars with people looking for local transportation. It’s an arrangement where passengers connect with drivers through mobile apps or websites. Then they are taken to a certain destination alongside other commuters.
The ride-sharing industry has grown at a rapid rate in recent years. Increased population and industrialization around the world, especially in larger cities means an increase in road traffic, and the need for comfortable transportation is at an all-time high.
Here are some ride-sharing industry statistics for you:
- The ride-sharing industry is worth an estimated $61 billion.
- About 25% of the entire US population uses ride-sharing at least once a month.
- Uber alone has over 3.8 million drivers worldwide.
- The ride-sharing market value is projected to reach an estimated $220 billion by 2025.
- Lyft has a ride-sharing market share of 30% in the US.
Ridesharing Market Stats
The ride-sharing market has grown exponentially in the last decade. Multi-million dollar companies like Uber and Lyft helped boost the popularity of ride-sharing worldwide. The market was worth $51.3 billion in 2017, a figure set to grow by over 400% in the next 5 years.
1. The global ride-sharing market is currently worth approximately $61 billion.
(Business Traveller)
Ride-sharing has quickly become a very lucrative business worldwide, especially in first-world countries. The growing popularity of ride-sharing companies like Uber in America, Europe, and Africa has boosted the industry’s worth in recent years and it now has a global worth of approximately $61 billion. This is an enormous figure considering the industry barely existed a decade ago.
2. Uber and Lyft make up 99% of the ride-sharing market in the US.
(Second Measure)
Lyft has gained ground in the ride-sharing market in recent years. The increasing popularity of Lyft among American commuters means Uber has gone from having a 74% market share in September 2017 to 69% in March 2020.
Lyft's growth has given them a market share of 30%, up by almost 10% from 2017. The two ride-sharing companies control 99% of the market in America, one of the highest duopolies of any industry nationwide.
3. Didi controls 91% of China's ride-sharing market share.
(Statista)
Didi is one of the biggest ride-sharing companies worldwide and by far the largest in China. The company already controlled a significant share in the market but proceeded to buy Uber’s Chinese operation in 2016, merging their shares with Uber's. As a result, Didi accounted for over 90% of China's ride-sharing market in the last quarter of 2018, with approximately half the country's population being registered users of their transportation service.
4. Self-driving car industry to generate global revenue of $173 billion in the next 3 years.
(Tech HQ)
Autonomous ride-sharing is widely seen as the next big step for the industry. Big ride-sharing companies like Lyft, Uber, and Dida have made major technological strides in the development of self-driving vehicles. The development of autonomous vehicles is set to generate global revenue of $173 billion dollars by 2023 with the ride-sharing market playing a primary role in the development and marketing of the technology.
Ride-Sharing Industry Growth
The growth of ride-sharing as an industry is one of the fastest worldwide. The market had a global value less than $1 billion a decade ago but is now worth a staggering $61 billion and is set to be worth a lot more in a few years. Multiple factors such as urbanization and the popularity of the internet have played a part in the industry's growth and it seems ride-sharing is set to be the future of local transportation.
5. The ride-sharing market is expected to be worth $220 billion by 2025.
(Spotnrides)
Despite the steady growth of ride-sharing in recent years, it’s forecasted to grow at an even quicker rate over the next few years. Recent ride-sharing market analysis shows the market is expected to increase by a 20% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between late 2019 and 2025.
At this rate, the market will rise from its current value of $61 billion to $220 billion in those 5½ years, an increase of nearly 400%. These stats reveal the projected success of the established ride-sharing companies globally as well as the financial potential of upcoming startup companies.
6. Uber and Lyft are responsible for up to 14% of Vehicle Miles Traveled in some US states.
(The Verge)
With personal car ownership on the decline and ride-sharing rising in the United States, the percentage of VMT owing to ride-sharing is on a rapid increase. Statistics show that just 1% of US VMT in 2016 belonged to ride-sharing companies. A recent study, however, shows that Uber and Lyft now make up to 14% of VMT in some states.
This is a significant spike in numbers which shows that more and more Americans, especially those in larger commercial areas are using ride-sharing as a means of transport more often than personal vehicles, and the national average of ride-sharing VMT is now about 6%.
7. Uber and Lyft averaged a combined 500 million US VMT per month in 2016.
(Mckinsey & Company)
Uber and Lyft make up 99% of ride-sharing in the US and their road hours have steadily increased as the years go by. A 2013 research shows that both ride-sharing companies had a combined 30 million VMT per month in the United States.
Similar research in 2016 showed that number had risen exponentially and both Uber and Lyft averaged 500 million VMT per month across the country, a CAGR upwards of 150%. More recent figures suggest their joint monthly average is well over a billion VMT and that figure is set to hit 2 billion by 2025 with the industry’s projected growth rate.
8. Share of Americans who have used ride-sharing services went from 15% - 36% between 2015 & 2018.
(Pew Research)
Although the popularity of ride-sharing has gradually grown over the past 10 years, a study by Pew Research shows that the growth of the ride-sharing market had a rapid surge from 2015 onwards compared to the first half of the decade. The study showed that 36% of Americans used ride-sharing at least once in 2018, compared to just 15% in 2015. Further research showed that 1/3rd of the population hadn’t even heard about ride-sharing in 2015, with just 3% saying the same 3 years later.
Who Uses Ride-Sharing Services?
As the demand for ride-sharing increases and the market evolves, consumer behavior changes as well. Research shows that certain people are more likely to use ride-sharing services than others. So who uses ride-sharing and why?
9. Americans aged 18-29 use ride-sharing more often than any other age group.
(Into The Minds)
Recent studies show that younger adults are far more welcoming to ride-sharing apps and their benefits than older age groups. Americans aged 18-29 are accustomed to smartphones and advanced technology from a young age. They make up the bigger part of the ride-sharing market’s customer base with 51% of them using Uber or Lyft in 2018.
This number drops to 43% for Americans aged 30-49 and just 24% for Americans aged 50 and above. The percentage of ride-sharing users within each age group is set to drastically improve over the next few years due to the market's projected growth.
10. 43% of all Uber trips in the US are customers going to dinners or parties.
(Statista)
People use ride-sharing services for a wide variety of reasons. A 2016 study shows that transporting to and from dinners, parties, get-togethers, and other forms of social hangouts is by far the most popular reason. These account for 43% of all Uber rides across the country with going to airports following with 22%. Other popular reasons for ride-sharing services include trips to work covering 11% and other random trips excluding the reasons above which covered 18%.
11. Only 24% of people earning less than $30k annually use ride-sharing services in the US
(Into The Minds)
A 2018 research shows that there is a correlation between average annual income and Uber and Lyft users in the United States. The study carried out reveals that just 24% of Americans earning less than $30k annually used ride-sharing. By contrast, 53% of those earning over $75k annually used the services of Uber and Lyft.
So why does annual income play a role in who uses ride-sharing? Well, further research shows 70% of Americans earning upwards of $75k per annum live in cities and highly industrialized areas where Uber and Lyft primarily function, while people on lower salaries live in more residential areas where ride-sharing isn’t as popular.
Statistics on Ride-Sharing Companies
Ride-sharing companies have become multi-million dollar businesses in recent years. Uber, Lyft, and Didi top the list of ride-sharing companies worldwide with sizable stakes in some of the biggest first-world countries. Let’s take a look at how these companies perform in the market.
12. Lyft employs approximately 1.4 million drivers worldwide.
(Business of Apps)
The success of a ride-sharing company relies a lot on employed drivers. The number of drivers working for Lyft has gradually increased over the years and the company now employs about 1.4 million drivers globally. They also have a customer base of over 23 million people globally. This is a 100% growth rate for the company from 2016.
In comparison, Uber has much larger working personnel, reflective of its dominance in the global market. Uber employs just under 4 million drivers across 600 cities worldwide.
13. 24.5% of US ride-share drivers work for both Uber and Lyft
(Statista)
Some ride-share drivers choose to work for multiple services while some work for a single company only. In the US, Uber has the majority share of exclusive drivers (54.2%). Approximately 22% of drivers work exclusively for Uber’s market rivals Lyft with 24.5% accepting ride requests for both companies.
14. 12% of US ride-share customers use both Uber and Lyft
(Second Measure)
Despite both Uber and Lyft being extremely popular in the US, most ride-share users stay loyal to just one brand. Research from February 2020 shows that just 12% of Americans used both Uber and Lyft to commute. 62% used Uber only. The remaining 26% used Lyft exclusively.
15. Didi averages 30 million rides per day.
(KrAsia)
Didi controls 91% of the Chinese market and is one of the biggest ride-sharing companies worldwide. Worth a reported $56 million, the company is widely known as “China’s Uber” after they bought Uber's shares in the Chinese market in 2016.
Their customer base has increased year after year as the ride-sharing market size in China has grown and recent reports show Didi average as much as 30 million trips daily across China. This translates to about 10 billion trips annually. This is approximately 10 times that of Uber who average about 1.3 billion annually. Their dominance in terms of numbers of rides has been attributed to their monopoly of the Chinese market, a country with a population of well over a billion.
16. Lyft operates in over 350 US cities.
(Much Needed)
Lyft has slowly built its reputation in the US to rival the major market players in recent years. Lyft ride-sharing stats show the company now controls 30% of the market share in the US, a 10% increase in the last 3 years. With their growth in market share, the company has also extended its reach, with services now available in 350 cities across the US, as well as, Toronto and Ottawa in Canada. Even so, Lyft has plans to extend even further to a bunch of new locations across the continent.
17. Uber has 7 million users in Brazil.
(Make a Website Hub)
Uber's global popularity has seen its service stretch to many countries across the world. Uber service is now available in 65 countries worldwide and over 650 cities. The United States remains Uber's main market, with an estimated 41.8 million users as of 2018.
Brazil, however, is Uber's second most popular stomping ground. The customer base there is 17 million users. London is Uber's biggest market in Europe with research showing about 3.5 million people using their services in London as of 2018.
The Rise of Ride-Sharing Apps
The use of ride-sharing apps among smartphone users is now very common. Research figures show a steady rise in the number of ride-sharing application downloads in the last decade as the industry became more popular among Americans.
18. About 46 million Americans downloaded Uber and Lyft applications in 2018 compared to just 18 million in 2015
(Sensor Tower)
Lyft and Uber applications had approximately 46 million first-time downloads in the US in 2018. Lyft was installed by about 20 million Americans, 2 million up from 2017 and about a 15 million increase from 2015.
Uber, on the other hand, had 26.5 million downloads in 2018, a 4 million decrease from its 30 million new app users in 2017 but a significant increase from its 13 million app downloads in 2015.
19. A projected 540 million people will use ride-sharing apps worldwide in 2021
(Build Fire)
Recent research has shown that the number of people with ride-sharing apps globally is set to exceed half a billion by 2021. The market’s projected growth and the addition of new ride-sharing companies as well as the soon-to-be autonomous ride-sharing service is set to skyrocket the number of daily downloads of ride-sharing apps worldwide. A reported 540 million people globally would use ride-sharing apps and this figure is all the more impressive when considering just about 207 million people worldwide had a ride-sharing app in 2015, a growth rate of over 100% in 6 years.
The Impact of the Ride-Sharing Industry
As ride-sharing has developed from a small industry to a more mainstream part of the economy, it has had a strong impact on other parts of the business scene. The auto industry has felt the effects of the change ride-sharing has brought and the large amount of Americans employed by the industry has played a minor part in improved employment numbers in the country in recent years.
20. Uber averaged over 320,000 more rides daily than yellow cabs in New York
(Todd W. Schneider)
If taxis were to be associated with any place in the world, it would be New York. The American state has long been known for its iconic yellow taxis and their importance to transport within the city, however, the advent of ride-sharing services seems to have reduced the use of traditional taxi transport in New York, similar to America as a whole. Research data from early 2020 shows that Uber ride-sharing averages about 550,000 rides a day in NY, compared to approximately 230,000 for taxis.
This figure shows the significant rise in Uber customers in NY as Uber averaged just 140,000 rides per day in 2016 compared to 420,000 rides for yellow taxis. This clearly shows Uber's growth in the market has significantly affected the taxi industry in NY.
Interestingly, Lyft is yet to overtake taxis in terms of average daily rides and record about 180,000 rides per day but with the continued growth of the ride-sharing market and the downward spiral of the taxi industry in NY, that is projected to happen around 2022.
21. Just 24.5% of American 16-year-olds had a drivers license in 2014.
(USA Today)
Getting a car used to be the dream of every teenager. Today it seems lots of teenagers and young adults are ditching their drivers licenses and begin using ride-sharing services.
The services of Uber and Lyft provide easy transportation alternatives for teenagers. Stats show that just over a quarter (24.5%) of 16-year-old kids owned a license in late 2014, down from 31.1% in 2008 and 46.8% in 1983. Further research also shows 76.7% of adults aged 20-24 possessed a driver's license, down from 82% in 2008 and 91.2% in 1983.
These figures clearly indicate car ownership is on the wane among younger Americans and ride-sharing services have played a major part in that.
22. Uber and Lyft insurance offer $1 million in damage liability for accidents involving their service.
(Nerd Wallet)
People in an auto accident involving Uber or Lyft have a damage liability coverage of $1 million. This applies only with a pre-existing condition; The driver must have accepted the ride request. This activates the insurance policy.
If he hasn’t, Uber or Lyft’s damage liability will not exceed $500,000. Ride-sharing services also won’t cover damages if the driver was not logged into the ride-sharing app at the time of the accident.
Conclusion
With global warming becoming a major issue in recent years, the ride-sharing industry has received a lot of support and plaudits worldwide and while taxi and bus drivers will fondly remember the days before Uber, most people appreciate the benefits of the industry.
As with most good ideas, Uber's success quickly brought competition. Lyft and Didi quickly became multi-million dollar services. Tesla ride-sharing set will likely also play a major part in the market in the next few years. Ride-sharing is certainly the future of local transportation.
