Restricting ride-hailing apps makes transportation systems less efficient

New research from Assistant Professor Melissa Rhee shows that policies restricting the use of ride-hailing apps like Uber or Lyft can hurt the transportation ecosystem of a city.

In 2015, the city of Shanghai saw an issue with their taxi fleet using ride-hailing apps to find customers. Riders trying to hail a cab on the street weren’t getting picked up as much. In response, the city blacked out the ride-hailing apps during morning and evening rush hour for 12% of the taxi fleet every workday.

“The intention was to protect customers, but in the end we saw a decrease in taxi ridership and an increase in traffic jams. And the worst outcome for drivers is that their profits actually fell,” Rhee said.

Read more about this research in this story from UF News.