NYU Tandon study reveals ride-hailing surcharge decreased rides, not congestion

November 14, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Share this:

BROOKLYN & MANHATTAN — NYU TANDON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING recently released a study concluding that the surcharges placed on ride-sharing in the city have slowed the use of car services like yellow cabs, Uber and Lyft, which saw 8%, 9% and 17% decreases in rides throughout the five boroughs respectively. However, despite earlier indications that the introduction of ride-sharing services led to increased traffic in urban areas, this decrease did not actually result in a similar decline of overall congestion or traffic speeds, leading the authors to conclude that the policy had resulted in “a net welfare loss for the city, at least in the shorter term.”

The study focused on the “congestion zone” of Manhattan south of 96th Street.

NYU Tandon says that the impact of the surcharge most deeply impacted lower-income areas of the city. This indicates that a surcharge policy could be risky in areas without access to transit alternatives, especially as the city and state governments plan to implement some form of congestion pricing. The highest surcharge was placed on non-street hailing ride-share services at $2.75 per ride.

✰✰✰