Transport apps have a problem of 'racism'


Transport apps have a problem of 'racism'



African-American users suffer greater waits and cancellations according to an MIT study



   About 1,500 cases and a difference of just 5 seconds to accept the trip between a user with white and a black one. These are the most important data of a study conducted by MIT, Stanford University and Washington on the different transport apps.

After studying the routes established in Seattle and Boston, the researchers found that Uber drivers with African-American names were canceled 10.1% of the time, compared to only 4.9% of the time for those with names that seem whites.

   Meanwhile in Seattle, the researchers appreciated that people with African-American names had to wait 29 seconds to find a driver in Uber and 23 seconds for Lyft. In comparison with only 21 and 19 seconds, respectively, for people with a Caucasian name, apparently.

The report is based on "an adequate and rigorous methodology" that "shows a worrying bottom line," says Ben Edelman, a professor at Harvard University.

For its part, Lyft, one of the companies mentioned, is unmarked by these accusations: "we do not tolerate any type of discrimination," says its communications director.

In that report, MIT workers and researchers from the Stanford and Washington universities add that in the Seattle taxi service, white travelers waited 60% of their time to get a car, while black travelers had the First stop with a 20% wait.

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