Taxi Operations during COVID-19
Impact of COVID-19 on Taxi Operation in Chicago
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a respiratory illness that significantly impacted the world in the beginning of 2020: Many countries announced lockdowns for months, the demand for some items (such as surgical face masks and disinfectants) skyrocketed, the schools, universities, and restaurants were shut down, the value of US oil price became negative, and supply-chain around the world was highly disrupted.
As a consequence of COVID-19 pandemic, transportation services including taxi operations have been impacted. In this report, we examine the immediate effects of COVID-19 on taxi operation in Chicago based on the data published on the city’s data portal as of March 31st, 2020. The analysis shows a nearly 50% decrease in total number of rides in March compared to February, and 95% reduction in weekly ridership and 85% reduction in the number of operating taxis during stay-home order.