Ride or Die: Did Ridesharing Services Kill Active and Public Transit? (Joint with Casey Wichman)

Abstract: This study examines the impact of ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft on city-level transportation patterns across the United States. By utilizing data from the National Tran- sit Database and the American Community Survey, we ana- lyze changes in ridership and modes of transportation following the introduction of these services. Employing event-study and difference-in-differences methodologies, including traditional two- way fixed effect difference-in-differences (TWFE DID) models and new staggered estimators, we find that cities with earlier rideshar- ing launches experience a notable decline in yearly ridership—1.27 times lower compared to cities introduced to these services later. Our findings consistently demonstrate a significant decrease in the number of bus and rail trips following the launch of Uber and Lyft, indicating that these services do not act as complements to other transportation modes