Homegrown companies fighting back against the return of the ride-hailing giants Ride-hailing in Austin has suddenly become a much more competitive market. After Uber and Lyft left town last spring, leaving a hole in the market filled by other startups and new companies, the two biggest transportation network companies returned to town late last month, after Texas passed HB 100, a law that created statewide ride-hailing regulations that supersede Austin?s rules.
The return of the two biggest companies to a city that adjusted to a more independent, wide-open transportation market comes at an interesting time. With Uber?s reputation in free-fall due to numerous crises and incidents of executive misbehavior, does this new competition offer a testing ground for public sentiment and the viability of a different kind of ride-hailing company" Here?s how riders, drivers, and ride-hailing companies are adapting to the new market reality in the Texas capital.
The shift has been sudden
The big players didn?t waste time making their presence felt. According to a Medium post by Andy Tryba, a company spokesperson for RideAustin, the local nonprofit that started up as soon as the two big players left the market, the service saw trip volumes drop 55 percent in the first week, from 58,700 to 26,000 (a figure that factors in the seasonality drop from UT students graduating and going home).
?The market power of the giants is undoubtedly significant,? he wrote.

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