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Ride-share companies such as Uber registered four million trips in Calgary last year, nearly doubling the volume from the industry’s first full year of operation, according to numbers provided by the city.

At the same time, Calgary’s taxi industry faced a sharp decline in ridership for the fourth straight year, with the six million trips in 2018 marking a drop of some one million metered rides since the city gave the green light to Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) to operate at the end of 2016.

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Michael van Hemmen, Uber’s business manager for Western Canada, said the booming numbers speak to the fact that Calgarians have been hungry for transportation options and aren’t afraid to speak with their wallets.

“We’re very happy with the growth we’ve seen in Calgary. We believe it’s an indication that Calgarians want ride sharing to be a part of their daily lives,” he said.

“We’ve seen that ride sharing and taxis can coexist.”