Uber serves low-income and minority neighborhoods more than three times the rate of yellow taxicabs in New York City, according to a report released by the Manhattan Institute.
The report, "Uber-Positive: The Ride-Share Firm Expands Transportation Options in Low-Income New York," evaluated ride data of yellow taxis compared to Uber X, the company’s lowest-cost option, to see which neighborhoods in New York they serviced most.
The report found that only 6 percent of yellow-taxi pickups were in lower-income neighborhoods such as the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Uber X picked up in those neighborhoods more than three times that of taxis, as their percentage of pickups outside Manhattan was 22 percent.
In January 2014, more than half—or 54 percent—of Uber X pickups were in zip codes with household income below the Manhattan median. Eleven months later, in December 2014, that number grew to 60 percent. This means that Uber X increased less affluent zip code rides by 200,000 in less than a year.
"NYC’s medallion cap has long prompted concern that taxi service is concentrated in affluent core Manhattan neighborhoods and at city airports—to the detriment of lower-income, minority residents who tend to reside in outer-borough neighborhoods where street hails are scarce," states the report.
"Ride-sharing services—notably, Uber—increasingly provide New Yorkers in lower-income and minority neighborhoods beyond core Manhattan with a service that compliments city-authorized taxis."