Taxis Battling Ridesharing Services Are Losing the Fight for Business Travelers

Business travelers are still way more likely to call an Uber than hail a cab.

The latest quarterly report from expense management company Certify shows that Uber made up 73 percent of its on-demand ride transactions in an analysis of millions of business traveler receipts during the second quarter. Taxis accounted for 22 percent, while smaller rival Lyft made up 5 percent.

Ridesharing services accounted for 49 percent of the ground transportation category in general, with car rentals following at 37 percent and taxis making up 14 percent — a 51 percent drop compared to 2014.

"For taxis, there may no longer be any hope of turning back," the report says.

One trend working against taxis: cost. According to the report, the average cost per ride for the ridesharing companies was significantly cheaper than for a taxi. The Lyft average cost was $20.78, compared to $25.48 for Uber and $39.80 for a cab. Uber and Lyft per-ride costs have dropped between 8 and 15 percent since the same time last year, while the cost of taxi trips increased 15 percent.

"Our data shows the real-time transformation of the ground transportation category and how modern business travelers have wholly embraced ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft," Robert Neveu, CEO of Certify, said in a statement. "The market continues to grow at an incredible pace, and competition is getting sharper and more sophisticated.

"I think what we’re seeing now is really the emergence of the kind of market forces you find in more mature industries. Forces that will invariably drive downward pressure on pricing, as well as an increased demand for new and better services in the future."

A recent deal between Uber and Concur, a travel and expense management company, will make it easier for corporate travel clients to use the service, which suggests the numbers could keep growing in favor of ridesharing options.