How many ride-hail trips are taken in Los Angeles each day?
Use Los Angeles County and estimate 700,000 trips a day, within 500,000 to 800,000. Residents take about 500,000, mostly from regular riders, and visitors add 200,000. As a check, 320,000 driver hours a day at 2 trips an hour gives 640,000.
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Example answer
50/100
Everyone in LA seems to use ride-hail apps, so I'd guess it's about a million trips a day. Let me try to back that up.
There are about 8 million adults in LA. I'll say 10% of them are regular riders at about 3 trips a week. That's 800,000 people and 2.4 million trips a week. Another 30% ride now and then, so half a trip a week. That's 2.4 million people and 1.2 million trips.
So residents take 3.6 million trips a week. Divided by 7 that's about 510,000 a day, and I'll carry 500,000. Tourists add some more, so I'll say 700,000 trips a day.
What holds it back
It opens with a guess of a million and never says whether Los Angeles is the city or the county, so the 8 million adults comes from nowhere. Tourists are waved in with no number at all.
Los Angeles can mean the city of about 4 million or the county of about 10 million. I'll use the county. I'll split adults by how often they ride and then add visitors. About 80% of the county is adults, so 8 million. I'll say 10% of them are regular riders at about 3 trips a week. That's 800,000 people and 2.4 million trips a week. Another 30% ride now and then, about twice a month, so half a trip a week. That's 2.4 million people and 1.2 million trips. The other 60% I'll count as zero. So residents take 3.6 million trips a week. Divided by 7 that's about 510,000 a day, and I'll carry 500,000. Then visitors. I'll say 400,000 are in town on a given day and half rent a car or get driven by family. The other 200,000 travel in pairs, so that's 100,000 groups at about 2 trips a day, which is 200,000. That brings the total to 700,000 trips a day. That seems like a sensible number for a place that size.
Los Angeles can mean the city of about 4 million or the county of about 10 million. I'll use the county, since trips cross city lines all day. I'll split adults by how often they ride and then add visitors. After that I'll rebuild the total from the driver side. About 80% of the county is adults, so 8 million. I'll say 10% of them are regular riders at about 3 trips a week. Those are people without a car, plus younger people going out at night. That's 800,000 people and 2.4 million trips a week. Another 30% ride now and then, about twice a month, so half a trip a week. That's 2.4 million people and 1.2 million trips. The other 60% I'll count as zero. They drive everywhere. So residents take 3.6 million trips a week. Divided by 7 that's about 510,000 a day, and I'll carry 500,000. Then visitors. I'll say 400,000 are in town on a given day and half rent a car or get driven by family. The other 200,000 travel in pairs, so that's 100,000 groups at about 2 trips a day, which is 200,000. That brings the total to 700,000 trips a day. Now a second route that uses none of those rider numbers, the driver side. Say 1 adult in 100 drives for an app, which is 80,000 drivers. Many are part-time, so I'll average 4 hours a day each. That's 320,000 driver hours a day, or about 13,000 drivers working at any one time. A driver finishes about 2 trips an hour, counting pickups and waits. So the driver side gives 640,000 trips a day, within 10% of my 700,000. Regular riders are 2.4 of my 3.6 million weekly trips, so that 10% moves the answer most. The driver route came in lower, so my range is 500,000 to 800,000, higher on a Saturday than on a Tuesday.
The numbers, step by step
Los Angeles County at about 10 million people, with adults split into regular riders, occasional riders and non-riders, plus visitors without a car, then rebuilt from driver hours.
- Adults in the county10 million × 80%
- 8 million
- Regular riders, trips a week8 million × 10% × 3
- 2.4 million
- Occasional riders, trips a week8 million × 30% × 0.5
- 1.2 million
- Resident trips a day(2.4 million + 1.2 million) ÷ 7
- about 510,000, carried as 500,000
- Visitor trips a day400,000 × 50% ÷ 2 a group × 2 trips
- 200,000
- Total trips a day500,000 + 200,000
- 700,000
- Driver hours a day8 million × 1% × 4 hours
- 320,000
- Drivers working at any one time320,000 ÷ 24 hours
- 13,333, about 13,000
- Trips a day from the driver side320,000 hours × 2 trips
- 640,000
What the interviewer listens for
- Do you say whether you mean the city or the county before using a population?
- Do you split riders by how often they ride, not use one average for everyone?
- Do you remember visitors, who ride far more per day than residents?
- Do you test the total by a second route that shares no inputs with the first, such as the driver side?
- Do you give a range and say which assumption moves it most?
Common mistakes
- Using 4 million people for one step and 10 million for another.Pick the city or the county in the first sentence and stay with it.
- Giving every resident the same number of trips.In a region where most adults own a car, a small group of regular riders makes most of the trips.
- Mixing time units, such as weekly trips for residents and daily trips for visitors, then adding them without converting.
- Counting riders when the question asks for trips.One trip with three friends in the car is still one trip.
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