Uber Overtakes Taxis as US Business Travelers' Ride of Choice

Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 3:30 PM ET, Thu July 16, 2015

Just months after research conducted by Certify revealed Uber was winning over more and more business travelers, new data from the expense management company shows that the ride-sharing service has surpassed taxis as U.S. road warriors' preferred means of ground transportation.

Buzzfeed.com reported Uber accounted for 55 percent of the eight million Certify-reviewed travel receipts expensed between April 2015 and June 2015.

By comparison, taxi rides made up just 43 percent.

The figures highlight a notable shift as this past spring taxis accounted for 52 percent of expensed travel receipts reviewed by Certify, compared to 47 percent for Uber.

Certify's new data also shows that Uber is emerging as a popular alternative to rental cars for some American business travelers. While the car rental industry's share of ground transportation expenses declined by 10 percent from 55 percent to 45 percent between the second quarter of 2014 and the second quarter of 2015, Uber's share rose from eight percent to 31 percent over that time.

Meanwhile, taxis' share dropped from 37 percent to 24 percent over that same period.

The reasons for the shift would appear to be cheaper fares and a better overall experience. Buzzfeed.com reported Certify's research shows that the average cost of ride-sharing services like Lyft ($22.51) and Uber ($30.03) tend to be cheaper than taxis ($34.48) in most places, and both companies are rated higher than rental cars and taxis as well.

Certify's data also revealed that the top three cities for Uber are currently San Francisco, Dallas and Los Angeles, accounting for more than half of total rides in each destination.


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Patrick Clarke

Patrick Clarke

Senior Editor

A Maryland native and wanderer who has lived across the U.S. from North Carolina to SoCal, Patrick Clarke graduated from Towson University with a B.S. in journalism. He previously worked for Bleacher

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