Transportation during emergencies is often heavily disrupted, but new research from Carnegie Mellon suggests that ride-sharing platforms held up considerably better than taxis during events like terrorist attacks or public transport shutdowns.

“Our study offers important insights into the design of platform strategies, especially for stimulating labor supply and providing incentives for urban transportation systems to adopt and use technology in response to urban emergencies,” the researchers explain.

Urban emergencies

Urban emergencies can result in significant human and economic loss if not handled effectively. While the technology for emergency management has been developed and evaluated, there is a lack of solid evidence on how technology-initiated digital systems perform under stressors.

To address this gap, the researchers focused on understanding how technology-equipped transportation services, such as ride-sharing platforms like Uber, cope with uncertainty and facilitate emergency relief. They collected taxi and for-hire vehicle records in New York City from January 2015 to December 2017 and analyzed platform-level use based on the hourly number of trips during various types of urban disasters, including terrorist attacks, subway shutdowns, and car crashes.

The study found that ride-sharing platforms outperformed taxi companies after urban emergencies. For example, while both taxis and ride-sharing services saw a decline in service use after the September 17, 2016 bombing and the October 31, 2017 truck attack in New York City, the ride-sharing platforms experienced a smaller decline.

Technology gains

The better performance of ride-sharing platforms may be attributed to the effect of technology used in ride-share platforms and the elasticity of the supply of ride-share vehicles and drivers.

Additionally, locations with higher densities of people were less affected by urban emergencies than those with lower densities. The study also found that the decrease in individuals’ use of taxis during emergencies was smaller during rush hours and evenings than at midnight and during the daytime. In contrast, daily use of ride-sharing platforms remained relatively stable.

The research highlights the importance of technology-equipped transportation services in urban emergency preparedness and management. By providing a more elastic supply of vehicles and drivers, ride-sharing platforms may help facilitate emergency relief efforts and mitigate the impact of urban disasters on individuals and the economy.

“Disasters are critical threats to the stability of urban transportation systems,” the researchers explain. “Our work sheds light on how technology supports emergency management, as well as how the public reacts to the adoption of technology during an urban crisis.”