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Ridehailing and alcohol-involved traffic fatalities in the United States: The average and heterogeneous association of uber

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  • Noli Brazil
  • David Kirk

Abstract

Ridehailing services such as Uber have been promoted as viable interventions for curbing alcohol-involved driving fatalities. However, evidence of ridehailing’s impact has been mixed, with some studies finding no association but others finding either an increase or a decrease in fatalities. We contribute to this literature by examining more recent years of data, which capture a period during which Uber ridership has grown substantially and alcohol-involved fatalities have increased. Furthermore, we test whether the relationship between Uber availability and traffic fatalities depends on local characteristics. We employ multivariate regression models to test the association between Uber availability and total, alcohol-involved, and weekend and holiday-specific traffic fatalities in the 100 most populated metropolitan areas in the United States between 2009 and 2017. We find that Uber availability is not associated with changes in total, alcohol-involved, and weekend and holiday-specific traffic fatalities in aggregate, yet it is associated with increased traffic fatalities in urban, densely populated counties.

Suggested Citation

  • Noli Brazil & David Kirk, 2020. "Ridehailing and alcohol-involved traffic fatalities in the United States: The average and heterogeneous association of uber," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(9), pages 1-11, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0238744
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238744
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Young, Mischa & Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2019. "Measuring when Uber behaves as a substitute or complement to transit: An examination of travel-time differences in Toronto," OSF Preprints hvbma, Center for Open Science.
    2. John M. Barrios & Yael Hochberg & Hanyi Yi, 2020. "The Cost of Convenience: Ridehailing and Traffic Fatalities," NBER Working Papers 26783, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Hall, Jonathan D. & Palsson, Craig & Price, Joseph, 2018. "Is Uber a substitute or complement for public transit?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 36-50.
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