The Cost of Convenience: Ridehailing and Traffic Fatalities

69 Pages Posted: 22 Nov 2018 Last revised: 4 Mar 2020

See all articles by John Manuel Barrios

John Manuel Barrios

Yale School of Management; Washington University in St. Louis - John M. Olin Business School; National Bureau of Economic Research

Yael V. Hochberg

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Rice University - Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business

Hanyi (Livia) Yi

Boston College - Carroll School of Management

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: February 29, 2020

Abstract

We examine the effect of the introduction of ridehailing in U.S. cities on fatal traffic accidents. The arrival of ridehailing is associated with an increase of approximately 3% in the number of fatalities and fatal accidents, for both vehicle occupants and pedestrians. The effects persist when controlling for proxies for smartphone adoption patterns. Consistent with ridehailing increasing congestion and road usage, we find that introduction is associated with an increase in arterial vehicle miles traveled, excess gas consumption, and annual hours of delay in traffic. On the extensive margin, ridehailing’s arrival is also associated with an increase in new car registrations. These effects are higher in cities with prior higher use of public transportation and carpools, consistent with a substitution effect, and in larger cities. These effects persist over time. Back-of-the-envelope estimates of the annual cost in human lives range from $5.33B to $13.24B.

JEL Classification: I00, O3, R4

Suggested Citation

Barrios, John Manuel and Hochberg, Yael V. and Yi, Hanyi, The Cost of Convenience: Ridehailing and Traffic Fatalities (February 29, 2020). University of Chicago, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Working Paper No. 2019-49, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3288802 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3288802

John Manuel Barrios (Contact Author)

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Yael V. Hochberg

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Hanyi Yi

Boston College - Carroll School of Management ( email )

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