Ride-hailing services have tripled in Metro Vancouver, both complementing — and competing against — transit

A ride-hailing driver picks up a passenger near Waterfront Station. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

Article content

Ride-hailing trips have more than tripled in Metro Vancouver in the past five years, with many of them replacing trips that would have otherwise used transit, according to a TransLink report.

Article content

There were roughly 3.5 million monthly ride-hailing trips using services, such as Uber and Lyft, in Metro Vancouver at the end 2025 — up from about one million a month in 2021, when the services were first approved.

Article content

Article content

Article content

“A few years ago, there were about 10 times more transit trips than ride-hailing trips. In 2025, it was down to only six times more transit trips,” Sarah Ross, TransLink’s vice-president of planning, told TransLink’s board of directors and mayors’ council on regional transportation this week.

Article content

Article content

Across the region, roughly one-third of all ride-hailing trips were on routes where a single-leg, transfer-free transit journey was an option, the report said. Ride-hailing use was heaviest in denser, more-walkable neighbourhoods with high transit access. Peak usage time overlapped with rush-hour traffic, driving up road congestion.

Article content

“It is these short trips within dense urban centres where ride-hailing trips are less optimal — most competing with walking and transit, and most adding to congested traffic conditions,” the report states.

Article content

Thirteen per cent of all regional ride-hailing trips both begin and end within the core of Metro Vancouver and 71 per cent of those trips could have been done on transit with no transfer. Another eight per cent were within walking distance of their destination.

Article content

Article content

Most of the trips happened during times and in locations where transit operates frequently, raising concerns that ride-hail services are competing with public transit for users. SkyTrain ridership declined throughout 2025.

Article content

Article content

Kelly Clifton, a professor at UBC’s school of regional planning, said in an email the report’s findings mirror some results from a study she led in Portland, Oregon, where a large percentage of ride-hailing use also took place where transit was a competitive option.

Article content

“Folks may opt for ride-hail because they will be drinking, are dressed to go out and have less appropriate clothing/shoes for walking to/from and waiting on transit, or have reservations and feel stressed for time,” Clifton wrote. “Also, tourists may be unfamiliar with transit generally and not know the area well.”

Article content

Vancouver International Airport was the most common pickup destination and people were almost as likely to use a ride-hailing service as they were to use transit, despite the SkyTrain station at the airport terminal.

Article content

Between 2024 and 2025, ride-hailing trips out of YVR grew 43 per cent, according to Ross. Trips to the airport increased by 11 per cent in the same time period.