Ride-hail Revolution: Ride-hail Travel and Access in Los Angeles

Ride-hail services such as Uber and Lyft have revolutionized how people access cars. But research into where they travel and who they serve has been limited.

For her doctoral dissertation, Anne E. Brown worked to fill that gap in research by conducting a first-of-its-kind analysis of ride-hail travel patterns, equity, and rider discrimination. Her dissertation provided a groundbreaking look at ride-hail use in Los Angeles.

Dr. Brown was the first scholar in the nation to access Lyft’s trip-level data — data that is not available to policymakers or the public — and analyzed rider travel and use patterns from more than 6.3 million trips taken in L.A. in 2016. She also conducted LA’s first audit study of Lyft, Uber, and taxi services, based on more than 1,700 rides, to measure how wait times and ride request cancellations varied across races, ethnicities, and genders.

Click the Project URL for links to her dissertation and accompanying policy briefs.