Reporters Compare Ride-Sharing Apps to Taxis

To compare ride-sharing services with one another and with taxis, Wall Street Journal reporters used UberX, Lyft, Sidecar, and cabs to get to work for a week in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. Over the course of more than 30 rides, prices on UberX averaged about 20% more than taxi fare, in part because of “surge” pricing during rush hours. Lyft came in second, costing a little more than taxis. Sidecar cost about 10% less than taxis. Cabs were fastest at getting passengers to their destinations, followed by UberX drivers. Sidecar and Lyft drivers took about 20% longer than cabbies.