How reliable are rideshare services in Chittenden County? What a Free Press reporter found
Burlington commuters without a car are left with fewer rideshare services than before the pandemic, according to city data from the last five years.
The number of registered drivers, including corporations such as Lyft and Uber as well as local taxis, has dropped by more than half between fiscal year 2017, in which there were 53 drivers, to fiscal year 2022 in which there were 23, Associate City Clerk Sarah Montgomery said in an email. The numbers represent all vehicle-for-hire business licenses in Burlington.
Declining numbers mean the responsibility of transporting city-goers during a time of surging fuel prices rests on fewer people, meaning longer wait times are inevitable.
To investigate how long these wait times are and how reliable rideshare apps are in Chittenden County, I tested both Lyft and Uber during various times of day from my Williston home to popular Burlington destinations.
Finding a ride in the city is easier than in more suburban or rural areas. Most drivers in Burlington got to me in under 10 minutes if I needed a ride out of the city, but my wait time in Williston was often more than double that.
Here are the rides I took and the things I learned along the way.
Early morning flight out of Burlington International Airport
The Burlington International Airport is open 24/7, according to its website; however, ticket counters and Transportation Security Administration open at 4 a.m.
And with the recommendation to arrive about two hours before a flight, passengers may need to get there before sunrise.
Rideshare drivers offer early morning trips specifically for these early flyers.
Lyft
I was unable to find Lyft drivers on call in the morning. It may be advantageous to schedule a Lyft ride the night before, but a driver is not guaranteed.
Uber
Ride call time: 4:36 a.m.
Ride arrival: 5:22 a.m.
Afternoon medical appointment
In the afternoon, I took a trip to the Burlington Community Health Center, because I figured it may be a popular time to visit on a lunch break from work or an afternoon off.
The health center does not take walk-in visits and asks patients to call at 8 a.m. for a same-day appointment. Late morning and early afternoon appointments fill up quickly.
Lyft
Once again, no driver was available to go from Williston to downtown Burlington in the afternoon. I scheduled a ride at about 2:45 p.m. and by 3:15, the app — which was still searching for drivers — sent me a notification asking I try again later. Instead, I called an Uber, which got to me in under 10 minutes.
Uber
Ride call time: 3:10 p.m.
Ride arrival: 3:17 p.m.
Evening ride to Church Street Marketplace
Downtown Burlington has a busy evening scene with restaurants, bars, and waterfront access, which means rideshare drivers get a rush of 9-5 workers heading for a night out on the town after their shifts.
Lyft
Lyft drivers were more readily available in the evening and a driver was able to get to me in under 10 minutes. I called a ride through the app around 6:45 p.m.
Uber
The following evening, Uber took a bit longer comparatively. I called a ride at about 6 p.m. and left about 30 minutes later.
Reserving rides ahead of time
As any driver may tell you, a reservation does not guarantee a ride. It is simply a request for the app to look for drivers in your area around the time you need to leave. If there are non available, the app will keep looking for about 30 minutes before cancelling your ride.
The reservation also does not guarantee your driver won't cancel on you last minute, which has happened to me on multiple occasions.
When to schedule
It may seem counterintuitive, but scheduling hours ahead of time may not always give you an advantage with every driver.
One driver spoke of the loss in income he faced when accepting someone's reservation too far in advance. The app would send him to the destination early and he may end up waiting upwards of 15 minutes, seeing several opportunities to pick up ride-seekers elsewhere pass by on his phone screen.
He made a rule for himself that he won't pick up a reservation unless it is made 10 minutes or less in advance.
However, when it came to finding a ride to the airport in the morning, I noticed it was best to schedule either the night before or 30 minutes to one hour ahead of time, given how few drivers were available.
Which app may yield the best results in a pinch?
There are more Uber drivers than Lyft drivers in Vermont, as the app was used statewide years prior to Lyft.
Uber began offering services in Burlington in 2015.
About two years later, Lyft announced that it would be serving Burlington, but was not operating statewide until 2018.
Each app respectively lists their coverage areas on their websites, lyft.com and uber.com.
Summer Sorg is a reporter for the Burlington Free Press. Contact her at ssorg@freepressmedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Fewer rideshare and taxi drivers serve the Burlington area
