Changes in the Ride-Hailing Industry Due to the Covid-19 Outbreak

The transportation market has changed a lot over the past decade, given the rapid scientific development, urbanization, road construction, and many other factors. Types and means of transportation are changing. No one can imagine that adults will move around the city on scooters that can be rented. At the same time, some of the standard modes of transportation are changing their appearance and companies are establishing communication with the user through a mobile application. The coronavirus has also made its own adjustments and caught the transport industry by surprise. The pandemic has drastically changed user preferences and priorities. These changes are the reason for the revision of the strategies of companies that work in the field of transport. In a matter of weeks, public transport such as buses, metro or trolleybuses has become less attractive to buyers than their own transport or ride-hailing. Safety and hygiene become much more important for the user than the cost of moving. The ride-sharing industry, in particular the taxi industry, response to this shift in consumer preferences and the global pandemic overall will be the focus of this work. Ride-hailing is the central part of the shared mobile market, accounting for 90% of it. McKinsey estimated that the total market size of the shared mobility industry for 2019 was up to 140 billion worldwide, with e-hailing accounting for the majority of 130 billion. The field of ride-sharing has attracted a lot of attention in its time. Companies in this area have attracted investments totaling over $ 100 billion1 . The present paper aims to compare the influence of the main factors on the pricing of a taxi trip. In order to investigate this, data about taxi rides in 2019, 2020, and 2021 years were taken from the official source of the city of Chicago. Thus, it is possible to compare the main indicators for the industry before the pandemic, during, and after. Also, for a more detailed analysis, this work takes into account the hourly data of temperature and precipitation in the city of Chicago. Additional information about the community areas of the city is used as well.