Gender gaps in ride-hail use in U.S. metropolitan areas

Yicong Yang () and Carolyn McAndrews ()
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Yicong Yang: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Carolyn McAndrews: University of Wisconsin–Madison

Transportation, 2025, vol. 52, issue 2, No 12, 715-739

Abstract: Abstract Ride-hailing has the potential to reduce gender inequities in transportation if its gender patterns were better understood. This study uses a U.S. national travel survey to examine how the gender gaps in ride-hailing associate with two domains of gender inequity: mobility factors and social norm factors. Our regression models show that ride-hailing is not gender-neutral. On average, men are more likely and more frequently to use ride-hailing than women in U.S. metropolitan areas, controlling for age, race, education, and income. Evidence also points to social norms associated with these patterns—ride-hailing serves employed men more than employed women, more men than women with young children, and car-sufficient men more than car-sufficient women. Recognizing and mitigating the gender gaps in ride-hailing could also benefit socio-economically disadvantaged people. We suggest two directions of interventions: (1) mobility-based interventions taking advantage of ride-hailing to complement public transit among women in lower SES groups; (2) gender-based interventions aiming to support women’s mobility in labor force participation.

Keywords: Ride-hail; Gender; Mobility; Social norms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11116-023-10436-7

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