Shocking new study shows women Uber passengers are driven around for up to five times longer
A new study involving popular transportation apps conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research has concluded with some troubling findings.
Over 1,500 rides were analyzed over a period of two years in two major ride-sharing city hubs — Chicago and Boston.
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These included riders who used Uber, Lyft and Flywheel.
The results of the study were alarming to say the least, especially in the midst of an election cycle where issues of gender and racial equality are at the forefront.
The first shocking discovery was that women riders are often taken on longer trips. It was found that some drivers are guilty of taking their female passengers on routes that were five-times the length they should have been.
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And in the world of ride-hailing apps, a longer ride means a longer route, which means a more expensive fare.
Aside from taking female passengers on out-of-the-way and long routes, the longer rides were attributed to drivers starting riders' trips early, and ending trips too late (after the passenger had already exited.)
22-year-old Elisa Kurzban, who participated in the study, told USA Today:
"On one ride, the driver took me through the same intersection four times. On the third trip through I said 'I think we already went this way,' and he said he'd made a wrong turn. And then we went through it again."
The second shocking finding of the study was that it took up to an astounding 28 percent longer period of time for drivers to accept requests from black passengers in Seattle.
But the stats don't stop there.
In the Boston sector of the study, researchers found that black males who used a more traditional "African American sounding name" were cancelled on twice as often as black passengers who had "white sounding" names.
Lyft spokesman Adrian Durbin told CNET:
"We provide this [ride] service while maintaining an inclusive and welcoming community, and do not tolerate any form of discrimination."
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