Uber is twice as fast as taxi service and about half the cost of a regular taxi, according to a new study of the company's ride-sharing app conducted in Los Angeles.
The average UberX ride took just under 7 minutes to arrive, versus over 17 minutes for a taxi requested by phone. For the same rides, the average UberX trip cost $6.40, while the cost of using the taxi was $14.63, including tip.
UberX gets people rides through private people driving their own cars, instead of professional drivers.
The study was conducted by the research firm BOTEC Analysis and funded by Uber, the leading ride-sharing company that has seen massive success but also tough opposition from regulators and taxi companies, which have charged that Uber can hurt poor people.
"The evidence in hand strongly suggests that UberX outperforms conventional taxis in serving low-income neighborhoods, at least in Los Angeles," wrote Mark Kleiman, a professor of public policy at New York University and the chairman of BOTEC, in a blog post Monday.
The study sent pairs of riders out in low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles and asked them to alternate between hailing private drivers through Uber or taxis for pre-selected routes. The riders, who were hired through a staffing agency and didn't know the study was funded by Uber, collected data relating to arrival times and costs. The study noted that it is not typical to hail taxis on the street in Los Angeles' sprawling neighborhoods.
The study did not test the app versus taxis anywhere other than Los Angeles, nor did it measure other variables of interest in the debate over ride-sharing and other so-called "sharing economy" apps, such as service to disabled people, availability in all neighborhoods, or treatment of different ethnic or racial groups.
Nor did it address the welfare of the people providing the service, which was the question raised by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a speech on the economy last week. Clinton said the rise of sharing economy companies was "raising hard questions about workplace protections and what a good job will look like in the future."
• This article has been corrected to reflect that Mark Kleiman is a professor at New York University.
