It’s been a rocky year for Uber, to say the least, with negative story after negative story about the company’s poor treatment of women, pervasive “bro culture,” and overall poor behavior. But, as we showed in June, riders were optimistic that Uber could turn itself around following the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick. Two months later, it appears that people are still willing to give Uber a second chance, at least if our numbers are any indication.

First, let’s look at the trend in Uber ridership since the beginning of the year:

Despite their friends in the media warning them all about Uber’s issues, consumers are still attracted to the service, as the number of riders has steadily increased.

Now, let’s look at Uber’s most viable competitor and formerly-pink-mustached cousin, Lyft, who many people believed would seduce business away from Uber after their bad run of PR. Doesn’t look that way:

Even with Uber’s questionable reputation and the fact that Lyft is a perfectly nice and safe alternative, Lyft appears to be only slightly more desirable now than it was at the beginning of the year – gaining a barely-visible 1% climb over the past 8+ months.

But here’s the most interesting thing. We examined a sample of just over 6,000 people who use Uber, Lyft, or both. The overlap between the two services was significant – but significantly more positive for Uber. Of the 4,372 Uber riders we studied, 27% also use Lyft. That’s a healthy 1 in 4. But, when we looked at 1,671 Lyft riders, a whopping 69% of them also use Uber. See for yourself:

Less than one-third of Lyft riders are exclusive with the service. We can assume that many ride-sharing customers only call on Lyft when Uber is too busy or playing hard to get with surge pricing.

If Uber is available, it’s still the #1 choice, by far.


Have a spare second? Check out our latest eBook on 2017’s Top Summer Trends!

A water color illustration of several people standing on grass, on a sunny day, with the title, "Once Upon a Summer: Top Summer Insights from 2017"