Uber study details ride data in Austin

Ride-hailing firms say data show a positive impact on the area.

Ride-hailing studies show reduced drunken driving arrests.

Ahead of another regulatory fight with Austin officials, ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft on Monday released studies that they said show their services are having a positive impact on the area.

Since last year, Uber and Lyft have been operating in Austin on a temporary basis under rules approved by the Austin City Council. City officials, however, are considering proposals that could put tighter restraints on the companies’ local operations.

The companies say they are providing affordable transportation to previously underserved communities such as East Austin, and suggested their presence is a factor in a decline in Austin drunken driving arrests.

At a Monday media event, Uber executive David Plouffe called Uber’s growth in Austin “a wonderful example of what can happen when ridesharing is embraced with progressive policies.”

“We are relentlessly working to make transportation reliable in every corner of Austin,” said Plouffe, Uber’s chief advisor and board member.

“Today more Austinites and small businesses have access to affordable rides than ever before.”

Some Austin officials — including City Council member Ann Kitchen — are discussing possible new rules that could require the ride-hailing services to pay additional fees to operate in the city.

Chelsea Wilson, public policy communications manager for Lyft, said: “There are a number of items in the proposals that would place onerous burdens on individual drivers and negatively impact the growth of this new industry in Austin.”

Lyft began service in Austin in May 2014, followed a month later by Uber. Both ride-hailing companies said they have improved transportation options in East Austin.

In its first year, Uber has said its Austin drivers gave more than 2.5 million rides and earned about $27 million. Uber says 32 percent of its Austin trips in August began or ended in East Austin. Last month, Uber said it was joining forces with several groups to recruit another 5,000 drivers from East Austin in the next year.

Lyft, meanwhile, says it gave “tens of thousands of rides” in Austin in July 2015, and says that of 5,000 recent trips, more than half started or ended in an underserved community such as East Austin. The report also said 20 percent of Lyft’s Austin drivers are from these same communities.

“The current operating agreement enacted over one year ago is working ... providing Austin residents with safe, affordable transportation options and flexible economic opportunities,” Lyft said in its Monday report. “Needlessly modifying it will create regulatory hurdles that could jeopardize the future of ridesharing in Austin. Why is the city of Austin trying to fix something that is not broken?”

The Uber study also said nearly two-thirds of its trips are one way, which they argue means riders are using other transportation such as Capital Metro to complete their rides.

“Uber helps take public infrastructure dollars farther, as riders use the platform to travel to and from the outer terminuses of the Capital Metro,” the study says.

And as more residents use Uber and other alternatives to a private vehicle, they “may become less dependent on their personal car,” the study said.

Both Uber and Lyft contend their services can help reduce drunken driving incidents. For

In its first year, Uber has said its Austin drivers gave more than 2.5 million rides and earned about $27 million.

example, Lyft referenced a March Austin Police Department report showing that drunken driving arrests were on the rise from 2011 to 2013, but fell 16 percent in 2014. Alcohol-related crashes fell 23 percent last year, KVUETV reported.

In another comparison, Austin police say during the 12-month period beginning in June 2014 when both Uber and Lyft were operating here, there were 5,953 drunken driving arrests, down from 6,294 arrests during the prior 12-month period.

Austin police officials have said it is not clear what impact Uber and Lyft have had on those numbers.

“We cannot attribute the decline to any one cause,” said Austin police spokeswoman Anna Sabana.