2022 Rideshare Data Report

The TNC Division has issued our annual rideshare data report since 2017.  In 2022, rideshare companies – also called Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) – provided approximately 60.6 million rides that started in Massachusetts, a 52% increase from the 39.7 million rides that started in Massachusetts in 2021.  Through use of interactive maps, graphs, and tables in this report, you can learn how the rideshare industry is changing in Massachusetts.  You can also explore the data behind this 2022 report, view the 2021 report and 2020 report, and discover prior years’ reports.

The transportation landscape in Massachusetts experienced widespread, multimodal changes in 2020 due to pandemic-related factors.  Rideshare volume substantially declined across the entire state.  In 2021, there were only about 12.5% more rideshare trips¹ in Massachusetts than in 2020, and this modest recovery was not seen in all areas.  In 2022, a broader recovery occurred, with a 52% increase in rideshare trips statewide.  A large number of cities and towns even exceeded their pre-pandemic trip levels in 2022.  While the Commonwealth as a whole largely remains below pre-pandemic rideshare volume levels, the recovery seen in 2022 was more robust than the recovery in 2021 and illustrates the vital role that this industry continues to play in Massachusetts.

The largest increase in number of rides happened in Boston, where 28.7 million rides started in 2022, up over 10 million from 2021 - a 56% increase year over year.  Worcester saw trip volume jump to 1.2 million after the city experienced a significant decline in 2020 and further decline in volume in 2021.  Western Massachusetts saw substantial increases in 2022 compared to 2021, including Belchertown (1,347 more rides; 214% increase), Pittsfield (5,362 more rides; 186% increase), Amherst (91,895 more rides; 158% increase), Northampton (14,260 more rides; 127% increase), and Westfield (7,989 more rides; 110% increase).

Overall, 338 of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts had at least one rideshare pickup in 2022 and, for 326 of these cities and towns, it was more than the number of trips that started there in 2021.  47 cities and towns even had more rideshare pickups in 2022 than they had pre-pandemic in 2019, led by Brockton (94,070 more trips), Fall River (60,952 more trips), New Bedford (45,005 more trips), Barnstable (43,490 more trips), and Haverhill (31,525 more trips). 

Using the map below, you can explore the 2022 rideshare pickup numbers in Massachusetts in greater detail.  Type a city or town name into the search bar to see the number of rides that started in each municipality.  Darker shades of blue indicate more trips started in a location compared to other places, while lighter shades of blue indicate fewer rides when compared to other places.  You can also click or tap locations on the map to explore numbers across different locations.

Using the interactive line graph below, you can review the changes in rideshare volume seen on a local level since 2017.  Using the dropdown menu, select a city or town you're interested in.  For example, you could select 'Boston' to see how the city's rideshare volume was impacted by the pandemic.  You could also select 'Provincetown' to see the post-pandemic recovery of rideshare volume on the Cape.  You can mouse over, click, or tap on ride year data points in the graph to see exact numbers.

Using the table below, you can further explore the year over year changes on a local level going back to 2017.  Type a city or town into the search bar below to see rideshare pickup numbers going back to 2017.  For example, if you search for 'Warwick', you'll see that in 2022 this town in Franklin County saw its first rideshare trip since the DPU started regulating rideshare in 2017.  You can also tap or click the column headings to sort the table by any of these values.

Below, you can explore travel patterns within the 2022 rideshare data, reflecting the accelerated recovery experienced in 2022.  To explore the data, type a Massachusetts city or town into the search bar below to see the number of rides that started and ended in that city or town, along with the number and percentage of "local rides" – rides that started and ended in the same city or town.  You can also see rideshare pickups and drop-offs calculated "per capita" based on the 2020 census population of the origin or destination city or town².  You can also tap or click the column headings to sort the table by any of these values.

For a more granular look at how many rideshare trips went from one place in Massachusetts to another, including trips that ended out of state, you can explore the 2022 rideshare data using the matrix map below.  Click or tap the filter menu below to select a destination city or town or 'Out of State' (at the bottom of the list) to see all the rideshare trips that started in Massachusetts but ended out of state.  Then, type a starting city or town in the search box, like 'Springfield' or 'Framingham' or 'Barnstable'.  Darker shades of red indicate more trips compared to other routes, while lighter shades of red indicate fewer or no trips compared to neighboring cities and towns.  You can click or tap locations on the map to see whatever travel patterns you're interested in.

Rides in 2022 traveled longer distances and lasted longer but moved slightly slower compared to rides in 2021.  The average rideshare trip in Massachusetts in 2022 lasted 22.6 minutes and traveled 13.5 miles at 31.6 miles per hour (MPH)³. 

Rides in Central and Western Massachusetts tended to travel long distances, last longer, and move faster than in Eastern Massachusetts, the same as in prior years.  Shelburne had the longest average ride duration, highest average speed, and most average miles traveled from origin in 2022.  The shortest trip distances were usually in densely populated areas, like Cambridge (4.25 miles) and Boston (4.55 miles), and in areas popular with tourists, like Nantucket (2.91 miles) and Provincetown (4.61 miles).

Municipalities that averaged speeds of more than 40 MPH were again mostly located in Central and Western Massachusetts.  For the third year in a row, Brookline had the lowest average speed at 14.27 MPH.  Boston, Watertown, Cambridge, Somerville, and Nantucket all had average ride speeds below 19 MPH in 2022.

Using the map below, you can explore average ride distance, time, and speed for rides in 2022 by searching for a city or town and clicking or tapping locations on the map.  Using the filter menu, you can switch between average speed, average miles traveled, and average trip minutes.  Darker shades of green indicate higher average speed, greater average distance, longer average ride times, and more accidents compared to neighboring locations.

For calendar year 2022, the Commonwealth collected approximately $12.1 million from a $0.20 per-ride assessment on each rideshare trip that started in Massachusetts.  Cities and towns receive half of this amount based on the number of rides that started in their communities, while the other half is distributed to MassDevelopment and the Commonwealth's Transportation Fund.  Since establishing the assessment, Massachusetts has so far collected more than $74 million from rideshare companies from the per-ride assessment of over 350 million rides.

In the table below, you can search and sort per-ride distribution amounts per city and town going back to rides from the year 2017, when the Division first started distributing the funds.  

2022 Municipal Project Reports

In 2022, municipalities were required to report on their use of the 2021 fund distributions.  Below are some highlighted municipal projects made possible by 2021 per-ride assessment funds.  

A list of municipal projects as reported to the Division for per-ride assessment funds greater than $1,000 can be found here.  A full list of projects can be provided upon request.