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Due to the pandemic, people’s likelihood of taking public transit has significantly decreased.
Does that mean it is an excellent time to join rideshare industry (Uber/Lyft) now since there is a larger demand for more privatized transportation services during the pandemic?
Considering the need for good jobs for youth, being a rideshare driver is a time-flexible and well-paid part-time job for youth who has access to a vehicle and a class 4 driver’s license. I’m curious to learn more about the potential for the ride-share market. I also want to whether, with safety in mind, people living in Vancouver are more or less likely to take rideshare during the pandemic.
(Sample size: 903, Sample variables: Youth living in Vancouver between the age of 15-29)
I’d like to compare the following:
Objective #1:
The pandemic and related restrictions have led to a significant decline in the demand for public transit system in Vancouver. The primary cause is because of crowdedness and unable to maintain a safe distance due to the space limitation. As a result, the demand for less crowded transportation services, like rideshare, should increase.
The graph below will show the percentage of people who takes public transit to get around Vancouver Pre-Covid and during Covid.
As we can observe, the percentage dropped from 79.00% to 33.97%. This indicates there is more than half of survey participants stopped taking public transit during the pandemic.
Objective #2:
In theory, the increasing demand for more privatized transportation services should increase the likelihood of people taking Uber/Lyft during the pandemic.
The graph below will show the percentage of people who takes rideshare to get around Vancouver Pre-Covid and during Covid.
As we can observe, the percentage dropped from 16.33% to 15.52%. This indicates there is a small decline in survey participants who takes rideshare during the pandemic.
Conclusion
The majority of people stayed at home and stopped travelling around the city due to Covid. As a result, the percentage of people taking public transit significantly declined by more than 50%. However, the percentage of people taking rideshare only dropped by a little. Therefore, we can conclude that the rideshare market still has similar demand as pre-Covid, so you should not expect to have more business during the pandemic. Nevertheless, the demand for public transit will rise again after the pandemic because Vancouver’s buses have long operation hours to provide convenient travelling for its citizens. According to the Index data, Vancouver’s busiest bus routes run from 5 am to 1 am for the entire week.
*In my opinion, rideshare still has great potentials because it is cheaper and more convenient than calling a taxi.
Alan Cao
Data Analyst
Simon Fraser University
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