If you don’t like to drive or don’t want to drive, there have always been plenty of alternatives such as public transport in the form of a bus or train or taxi, or if you can afford it, you could rent a town car. However it seems that with companies like Uber and Lyft offering more affordable alternatives to taxis and town cars, it’s not surprising that their usage has seen an increase.
According to a study by Pew Research (via Engadget), it seems that the usage of ride-hailing services in the US has doubled in the past 3 years. Back in 2015, a survey conducted found that about 15% of adults used such services, but in a similar survey done in 2018, it was revealed that the number of adult using these services was at 36%, more than doubling what it was three years ago.
These services also seem to be particularly popular amongst the younger adults, where 51% of those aged 18-29 say they use the service, versus the 24% of those who are aged 50 years or older. The rise in popularity of these ride-hailing services has also managed to increase awareness of such services manyfold.
Back in 2015, it was found that only 33% of adults were aware that such services existed, but that number has since decreased to about 3% in 2018, meaning that pretty much everyone and anyone in the US know about it.