NAHANT — Uber, Lyft — they’ve become household names and, in Nahant, ridesharing has sped into high gear, according to a state report.
In 2019, rideshare companies provided 91.1 million rides in Massachusetts, according to the state Department of Public Utilities report.
That number equals 40 percent more than in 2017. But in Nahant, with the Causeway the only route to and from town, ridesharing saw a 70 percent increase from 2017 to 2019.
Ridesharing companies reported that in 2019, rides more than doubled in several towns with fewer than 8,000 residents, including Nahant, where rideshare users logged 8,949 trips in 2017, according to the report, and 15,170 rides in 2019.
Why the increase? According to the report, ridesharing is a popular and dependable transportation source spread beyond cities in the last two years and into smaller communities.
“Many of the rideshare trends that emerged in 2018 continued to develop in 2019, further demonstrating that Transport Network Companies (TNC) use is an important thread in the fabric of Massachusetts transportation, especially when it comes to getting around cities and getting to the airport,” stated the report.
A closer look at the report provides a glimpse into Nahant residents’ travel habits.
The 15,170 number represent rides started in Nahant. But the number of rideshare trips to the town in 2019 was 17,597. On average, town residents used a rideshare service about four times in 2019 with the town as the starting point and, on average, they took five rides in 2019 to get home.
The state prepared the rideshare report in part to underscore rideshare’s economic contribution to the state.
TNCs pay an assessment of 20 cents per ride that is distributed among cities and towns, Massachusetts’s general transportation fund, and MassDevelopment to assist small businesses operating in the taxicab, livery, or hackney industries.
More than $12 million was collected in 2017, more than $16 million was collected in 2018, and more than $18.2 million was collected in 2019. Funds collected from the per ride assessment over the years have enabled the reconstruction of a bridge in Beverly.
In comparison, 484,000 rides originated in Salem in 2019 with its strong tourist draw. Lynn was the point of origin for 939,000 rides in 2019 compared to 88,523 rides from Swampscott; 78,000 from Marblehead; 311,800 from Peabody; 267,000 from Saugus and 52,000 from Lynnfield.
By contrast, Lynn in 2017 logged 549,000 point of origin rides and Salem, 296,000, according to the report.
