Overtreated By Taxi Drivers: Whom, Who, And When?
(A2025-126429)

AUTHORS

Wei Miao, University College London; Yanlai Chu, Renmin University of China; Junhong Chu, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

Using spatiotemporal matching on a taxi trip dataset, we find that trips from (to) hotels were significantly longer in distance and duration and higher in fare than trips from (to) nearby residential buildings that departed at similar times and had the same destination (origin). This suggests that nonlocals are more likely to be targets of taxi fraud. Similarly, trips from (to) luxury residences were also significantly longer than trips from (to) nearby public housing estates. This suggests that richer locals are more likely to be overtreated. The extent of overtreatment differs by driver demographics, targeting behaviors, and other trip-specific factors.