The Relationship between For-Hire Service Pickups and Built Environment Characteristics: Evidence from New York City

This study employs structural equation modeling techniques to investigate the relationship between demand for taxi, Uber, and Lyft services and socioeconomic, built environment characteristics, and access to transit and bike-sharing modes, for taxi zones within New York City. The results show that income and car ownership levels influence demand for these for-hire modes. Additionally, higher activity density and higher extent of mixed land-use are associated with increased demand for for-hire modes, while pedestrian-friendly street networks are associated with lower demand levels. Temporal destination accessibility also has an impact on demand for taxi, Uber, and Lyft. Further, accessibility to transit and bike-sharing significantly influences demand for for-hire modes. These findings provide a better understanding of the link between for-hire modes and built environment as well as accessibility to other modes, which can be used to improve demand forecasting of taxi, Uber, and Lyft services in large cities.