Companies that in their travel policies don’t address travelers'
use of Uber might do well to consider that corporate travelers in North America
in March expensed almost as many rides from the mobile-based, on-demand ground
transportation service as all other taxi, limousine and airport shuttle rides,
according to expense management provider Certify.
Certify's assessment of actual expenses of business travelers
through its platform showed that Uber in March 2015 accounted for 47 percent of
all total paid ground transportation rides in North America, a huge jump from March
2014, when it held a 15 percent share of such expenses in Certify's platform.
“The business community is looking for value and
convenience, and at the same time this is a group that is interested in
innovation,” Certify CEO Robert Neveu said in a prepared statement.
“Ridesharing services are making inroads into corporate budgets because they combine
all of those things.”
Uber in a statement on its website said, “We did not
participate in Certify’s research, but our own data confirms that more
companies and employees are turning to Uber for their travel needs.”
Uber represented 71 percent of business travelers'
first-quarter ground transportation spending in San Francisco, 56 percent in
Dallas and 49 percent in Washington, D.C., according to Certify.
The average first-quarter Uber ride ($31.24) cost less than the
average trip for other ground transportation options ($35.40), according to
Certify.
Certify included uberX, uberXL uberPlus, Uber
Taxi, UberBlack, UberSUV and UberLux rides as part of its analysis of business
traveler spending with Uber.