Ride-hailing platforms are shaping the future of mobility, but for whom?

Claiming that ride-hailing companies have disrupted the transportation sector is an understatement. The ability and vision of companies, such as Uber and Lyft, to harness smartphones’ built-in GPS technologies, provide real-time information about wait times, and facilitate cashless transactions has enabled them to effectively compete with the taxi industry, and potentially capture a sizeable share of the ridership of other modes as well. RH services are now increasingly being recognized as an accepted transportation service within cities, and have rapidly positioned themselves among the most valuable companies within the transportation sector. Albeit a relatively new field of research, studies on this novel mode of travel have mostly focused on its impacts upon the transportation sector, and on the regulatory and policy frameworks that should be implemented to either encourage or deter its usage. To date, not much work has been done to determine who actually benefits from RH and to understand the equity concerns that it may engender. In this chapter, we explore these largely unaddressed concerns by situating ride-hailing within the well-established transport equity literature that has long focussed on disparities in access and mobility between different social, economic, and demographic groups. This allows us to elaborate on the potentially restrictive nature of RH for many segments of the population. Once unveiled, these equity concerns will shape our discussion and inform our recommendations for an agenda to research equity concerns vis-a-vis ride-hailing.