(Bloomberg) -- New York City’s efforts to curb traffic from ride-sharing apps may have pushed up prices for passengers but demand remains strong.
In March, Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER), Inc. completed 17,248,340 trips in NYC, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of data from the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. That’s the highest number of rides Uber has completed in any given month based on TLC data for the past three years. Rival ride-hailing service Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT). completed 4,699,040 rides in March, also marking the company’s largest trip per month yet. Trip data for April and May is not available yet.
Record months for Uber and Lyft came despite efforts from NYC to curb the congestion caused by ride-hailing apps. In August, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a package of bills to limit new licenses to ride-sharing drivers. And earlier this year, NYC passed a rule requiring passengers to pay congestion surcharges on top of the fee for a ride. NYC also set a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers, putting further upward pressure on prices.
The congestion surcharge rule targets passengers of all ride-hailing vehicles and could further damage the taxi industry which has already suffered from the rise of ride-sharing firms. The number of yellow taxi rides per day has plunged 22% in the two-year period ending December 2018.
NYC’s new ride-sharing rules were implemented less than 12-months ago so it may take time to see the full effects.