In the second quarter of 2015, Uber fares overtook traditional taxi fares as a portion of ground transportation receipts for business travelers for the very first time.
Now the ride-sharing-platform has surpassed another stalwart of the corporate expense report: rental cars.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, expense management system provider Certify found that Uber made up 41% of all ground transportation receipts among Certify clients, while car rentals constituted 39%. The remaining 20% went to taxis.
At the start of 2015, Uber made up 29% of all ground transportation trips. Its surge to 41% in the final quarter of the year is a result of its 417% annual growth from fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2015.
Uber rival Lyft also reported tremendous growth—712%—as a portion of corporate travel in the past year, but its share is still too small to show up in the break-down of ground transportation.
Business travelers are also increasingly turning to sharing economy companies for their lodging needs. Room-share platform Airbnb reported 259% growth last year, while expenses charged to Hotel Tonight, a booking app that laid off 20% of its staff in November, increased 1050%.
