Since the rise of share riding services such as Uber and Lyft, there has been a drop of demand of subway ridership. Statistics from Metropolitan Transportation Authority have concluded that weekday ridership was at its highest during the weekday. However, ridership fell 3 percent as the result of New Yorkers and tourists finding other ways and services to get around the city. Some factors contributing to the decline of the subway riders are: rising subway delays, popularity of share riding services, and weekend maintenance work that disrupts services.

As individuals continue to use share riding services, negative implications include worsening of traffic congestion in an already congested city. Additionally, the city of New York has approved the reduction of bus rider services on both weekdays and weekends. This creates the possibility a slippery slope. For instance, less buses may result in the unemployment of bus drivers – as less are needed; and as previously mentioned, the traffic congestion will rise because people that may normally take a bus, may be required to find an alternate method of transportation.

On the other hand, “ride-sharing services can provide not only a very personalized mobility experience but also ensure efficiency and sustainability via large-scale ride pooling. Ride-sharing services are transforming urban mobility by providing timely and convenient transportation to anybody, anywhere, and anytime,” states Javier Alonso-Mora.

Fitzsimmons, Emma G. “Subway Ridership Declines in New York. Is Uber to Blame?’ The New York Times, /www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/nyregion/new-york-city-subway-ridership.html. Accessed 14 May 2018.

Alonso-Mora, Javier et al. “On-Demand High-Capacity Ride-Sharing via Dynamic Trip-Vehicle Assignment.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114.3 (2017): 462–467. PMC. Web. 20 May 2018.