Comparing Taxi, Transportation Network Company Fares Reveals the 'Cost of Loyalty'

An app that compares fares across transportation network company platforms reveals several lessons about the state of competition in this new transportation frontier.

1 minute read

November 1, 2014, 11:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Brandon G. Donnelly shares news of a survey by whatsthefare that provides "a cost comparison between regular city taxis and ride sharing services such as a UberX, Lyft, and Sidecar in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York."

According to Donnelly, the most obvious realization after an initial examination of the data is that "regular taxis are far more expensive in San Francisco and Los Angeles compared to all of the ride sharing services."

The whatsthefare post goes into thorough detail about the comparison at different times of day and different cities, but instead of finding a clear winner in the fare wars, the posts concludes by surmising the "cost of loyalty" to any one of those systems in any of the country's major cities. If you're interested in cutting down on your own cost of loyalty, whatsthefare provides an app that will comparison shop for you before you go.

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