Uber and Lyft Traffic in New York City Surges

(Bloomberg) -- New Yorkers flocked back to Uber and Lyft over the summer as the city began to recover, bringing the number of rides booked through the apps up significantly -- but still below pre-pandemic levels.

Rides booked through Uber Technologies Inc. were up 16% this year through July while Lyft Inc.’s are up 21%, compared with the same period last year, according to NYC Open Data. New York City traffic data shows a similar trend as it nears pre-pandemic levels with more people commuting into the city.

Overall, nearly 15 million rides were booked through the two companies in July, a 52% increase over last year but a 20% decrease compared with July 2019, the data show.

Lyft’s recovery was a bit stronger than its larger rival’s in recent months. Lyft dispatched 4.2 million trips in July, a 2.4% increase from the previous month and 56% more than a year earlier. Uber’s trips, however, edged lower to just over 10.7 million rides dispatched, a 0.4% decrease from June and a 51% increase from last July.

New York City started to bounce back from pandemic lows this spring, as people rushed to get vaccinated, restaurants increased capacity and reopened for indoor dining, and museums, gyms, Broadway and movie theaters reopened.

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