Rideshare & Transportation Expense Statistics 2026: Uber, Lyft, and Business Travel Costs

Uber and Lyft combined for nearly $50 billion in revenue and over 12 billion trips in 2024. With rideshare now accounting for 76% of U.S. ride-hailing spending, transportation receipts have become essential for business expense tracking. This report compiles source-verified statistics on rideshare usage, costs, and business travel transportation.

Key Findings at a Glance

• Uber completed 11.3 billion trips globally in 2024, generating $162.8 billion in gross bookings (Uber FY 2024 Earnings).
• Lyft completed 828 million rides in 2024, reaching an all-time high of 44 million annual riders (Lyft FY 2024 Earnings).
• Uber holds 76% of U.S. rideshare spending; Lyft holds 24% (Bloomberg Second Measure, March 2024).
• The median Uber/Lyft ride price in 2024 was $15.99, up approximately 7.5% from 2023 (Corp Magazine).
• Global business travel spending reached a record $1.48 trillion in 2024 (GBTA).

Rideshare Market Size

Sources: Uber FY 2024 Earnings; Lyft FY 2024 Earnings; GM Insights

Trips Per Day and Year

• Uber: 11.3 billion trips globally in 2024 (+19% YoY), roughly 31 million trips per day worldwide. Monthly trips per active user reached an all-time high of 6.0 (Uber Earnings).
• Lyft: 828 million rides in 2024 (+17% YoY), roughly 2.3 million rides per day (Lyft Earnings).
• NYC data (proxy for dense U.S. markets): Uber and Lyft average ~634,000 daily trips; yellow cabs average ~126,000 daily trips (NYC TLC Data).

Average Ride Costs

Sources: Corp Magazine; Business Travel Executive

Business vs. Personal Usage

• Ride-hailing accounted for 73% of business ground transportation expense receipts. Within ride-hailing, Uber held 73% and Lyft held 22% of business expense transactions (Certify SpendSmart Q1 2019).
• 200,000+ companies across 70 countries are enrolled in Uber for Business as of 2024.
• Uber One membership: 30 million members as of Q4 2024 (Uber Earnings).
• SAP Concur data indicates rideshare is consistently ~40% cheaper than taxis for business travelers (SAP Concur).

Airport Transportation

• Global airport ground transportation market: $24.7 billion in 2024, projected to reach $38.7 billion by 2034 (CAGR 4.6%) (Future Market Insights).
• Uber and Lyft hold a combined 75.1% market share of all legal NYC for-hire transportation trips, including airport pickups (NYC TLC Market Data).
• U.S. domestic air passengers in 2024: 161.3 million (+6.12% YoY), all requiring ground transportation to/from airports (FAA FY2024).

Taxi vs. Rideshare Market Share

• U.S. ride-hailing revenue (2023): ~$47.95 billion vs. taxi revenue: ~$23.83 billion -- rideshare generates roughly 2x the revenue of traditional taxis (ElectroIQ).
• In NYC daily trips (July 2025): Uber/Lyft handle ~5x more trips than yellow cabs (634,000 vs. 126,000).
• In business expense receipts, taxis accounted for only 6% of ground transportation transactions vs. 94% for Uber + Lyft combined (Certify SpendSmart Q1 2019).

Rideshare Driver Numbers

• Uber global drivers and couriers: 7.8 million in Q2 2024, growing to 8.8 million by Q2 2025 (+12% YoY) (DemandSage).
• Uber driver/courier aggregate earnings: $20 billion (including tips) in Q4 2024 alone, up 16% YoY.
• Lyft: 2+ million total drivers in the U.S.; 500,000+ weekly active drivers.
• Over two-thirds of rideshare drivers drive for both Uber and Lyft (Ridester).

Business Travel Transportation Expenses

Sources: GBTA 2024 Spending Report; GBTA Travel Costs Forecast

Uber vs. Lyft: Platform Comparison

Sources: Uber FY 2024 Earnings; Lyft FY 2024 Earnings; Bloomberg Second Measure

2025 Financial Updates

Uber Full Year 2025

Sources: Uber Q1 2025 Earnings; Uber Q3 2025 Earnings; Uber FY 2025 Results

Lyft Full Year 2025

Sources: Lyft Q2 2025 Results; Lyft FY 2025 Results

Autonomous Vehicles and Robotaxis

• Waymo completed 450,000+ weekly paid rides by December 2025, up from 175,000 at the start of the year -- a 157% increase in 12 months (Waymo 2025 Year in Review).
• Waymo delivered 14 million total trips in 2025, roughly 3x the ~4.5 million rides in 2024.
• Fleet size: approximately 2,500 robotaxis operating across San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta as of late 2025 (CarbonCredits).
• Expansion for 2026: Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Orlando, plus Detroit, Las Vegas, Nashville, San Diego, Washington D.C., and London (CNBC).

Waymo Safety Performance

• Safety data based on approximately 100 million driverless miles by mid-2025 (Waymo Safety Impact; peer-reviewed Taylor & Francis study).

Rideshare Safety Statistics

Fatality Rates (per 100 million vehicle miles traveled)

• Both platforms remain below the national fatality rate, though rates increased between reporting periods.
• Uber reported 2,717 sexual assault incidents in its 2021-2022 safety report; Lyft reported 2,651 incidents across 2020-2022 (Avian Law Group).
• Each additional 100 rideshare trips in an area increases the odds of an injury crash by 4.6% (University of Chicago, 2019).
• Over 99.9% of trips occur without a safety incident, per platform reporting.

Sources: Avian Law Group; Cunningham & Mears

Environmental Impact and Deadheading

• Solo rideshare trips produce approximately 20% more emissions per trip than personal vehicles, primarily due to deadheading (empty driving between fares) (Popular Science).
• Across six major U.S. cities, only 54-62% of rideshare vehicle miles had a rider; approximately 33% was deadheading between passengers; 9-10% was driving to pickups (Urbanism Next).
• Ride-hailing leads to approximately 83.5% more vehicle miles traveled than would have occurred without the service, accounting for mode replacement and deadheading.
• VMT increases by city since rideshare introduction: Chicago 97%, NYC 114%, San Francisco 118%, Boston 157% (Schaller Consulting).
• A pooled electric rideshare trip produces 70% lower emissions vs. a private vehicle trip.

EV Fleet Adoption

• EVs account for approximately 10% of Uber's miles in the U.S./Canada, 15% in Europe, and 40% in London/Amsterdam (Rest of World).
• NYC: approximately 10% of rideshare fleet is electric, 14% is hybrid (InsideEVs).
• Uber goal: zero-emission platform by 2040. Lyft goal: 100% EV by 2030.

Surge Pricing

• Typical surge multiplier range: 1.1x to 3x normal fare. During major events (New Year's Eve in large cities), surges can reach 4x-5x (Ridester).
• Both Uber and Lyft have shifted from visible multipliers to "upfront pricing", where surge is embedded in the total fare rather than shown as a separate multiplier.
• Lyft Q2 2024: Reduced average surge amount per ride by 25%, improving conversion rates.
• Washington state introduced legislation to cap surge prices after concerts and sporting events (GeekWire).

Rider Demographics

• 18-29 year olds: 45-51% have used rideshare (highest adoption group). 65+: only 13% (Pew Research).
• Household income $75,000+: 53% have used rideshare. Under $30,000: only 24% (Gallup).
• Urban: 45% have used rideshare (19% weekly). Suburban: 40% (6% weekly). Rural: 19% (5% weekly).
• 30% of Americans use a rideshare service (Gallup, 2025).

Rideshare and DUI Reduction

• Uber's availability reduced U.S. alcohol-related traffic deaths by over 6% (~494 fewer deaths in 2019 alone), with annual life-saving benefits estimated at $2.3-$5.4 billion (UC Berkeley Haas).
• DUI arrests decreased up to 53% after rideshare introduction in Boston, Worcester, and Northampton, MA (National District Attorneys Association study).
• Houston: motor vehicle collision traumas decreased 23.8% on Friday/Saturday nights (all ages) and 38.9% for under-30 after Uber arrived (MADD).
• Alcohol-related MVA fatalities declined from 22.8% (2009) to 17.2% (2022) since rideshare services started (HCA Healthcare 2025 Study).

Micromobility and E-Scooters

• North America: 225 million shared micromobility trips in 2024, up 31% from prior year, across 415 cities (Smart Cities Dive).
• Lime (market leader): 200+ million rides in 2024, $810 million gross bookings (+31% YoY) (PYMNTS).
• Market size: $3.6 billion in 2024, projected to reach $11.9 billion by 2034 (12.7% CAGR) (Market.us).
• Shared micromobility avoided 101+ million pounds of CO2 emissions in 2024 (Cities Today).

If you found this data useful, please cite as: "Rideshare & Transportation Expense Statistics 2026," makemyreceipt.com, February 2026.

Methodology and Sources

All statistics in this report are sourced from publicly available earnings reports, government data, and industry research. Primary sources include:

• Uber Technologies: Q4 & Full Year 2024 Earnings and FY 2025 Results.
• Lyft, Inc.: Q4 & Full Year 2024 Earnings and FY 2025 Results.
• Bloomberg Second Measure: U.S. Rideshare Industry Overview (March 2024).
• GBTA: Global Business Travel Spending 2024.
• FAA: Air Traffic by the Numbers FY 2024.
• Waymo: 2025 Year in Review and Safety Impact.
• Pew Research Center: Ride-Hailing Apps Usage.
• UC Berkeley Haas: Rideshare DUI Impact Study.

Last updated: February 2026.