When it comes to short trips within Edmonton — a few kilometers back and forth, to the mall, to the doctor, to daycare, or to visit friends — in most cases, a taxi or Uber is more cost-effective than renting a car for the day. Renting a car starts to make sense when you're driving a lot of miles during the day, have a bunch of stuff to do in different areas, or just want total freedom to get around, not just save money.
To understand where the line of profitability lies, it is worth first looking at the actual figures for Edmonton and then modeling several typical scenarios.
Basic figures: how much does it cost to rent a car, take a taxi, or use Uber in Edmonton
Car rental in Edmonton has a very wide price range. Cheap promotional options through aggregators and online booking offer economy class from approximately CAD 21–30 per day (excluding additional options), but the average realistic daily cost according to reviews and ratings is around CAD 70–90 per day, and sometimes more, especially when booking directly with large companies during peak season. For example, Enterprise in the city has an average price of around CAD 152 per day, even though the economy segment can start at around CAD 30–35.
It is important to understand that the “rental price” is not the final amount. Taxes, fees, and, if necessary, insurance options (CDW/LDW) are often added to it, which can add another CAD 20–35 per day. To this must be added the cost of fuel and, sometimes, paid parking in the city center.
Traditional taxis in Edmonton operate on a single city rate. The current rate (updated in 2023) includes a starting fee of CAD 4.10, then approximately CAD 1.80–1.85 per kilometer and about CAD 0.60 per minute of waiting time. This means that a typical short trip within the city of 3–5 km usually costs between CAD 10 and CAD 18, and trips of 10–15 km cost between CAD 17 and approximately CAD 25, depending on traffic.
UberX in Edmonton is generally cheaper than a traditional taxi for short distances. For UberX, the basic guidelines are as follows: a starting fee of CAD 2.75, approximately CAD 0.85 per kilometer, and CAD 0.25 per minute, with a minimum fare of around CAD 5.40–5.50. This means that a short trip of a few kilometers usually costs between CAD 7 and CAD 15, barring peak surge pricing and prolonged traffic jams.
These figures already reveal the first important conclusion: even with a very good discount (say, CAD 30), a daily rental costs as much as 2–4 short Uber trips, and at the “typical” CAD 70–90 per day, it is already equivalent to 5–8 or even more trips.
Scenario 1: infrequent short trips — once or twice a day
Let's imagine a person who lives in Edmonton or has just arrived, but during the day they only need to travel 5–6 km in the morning to a shopping center or government office and return in the evening or go somewhere else a similar distance.
The total daily distance is about 10–12 km, which is actually two short trips.
For a city taxi, each 5–6 km trip will cost approximately: a starting fee of CAD 4.10 + CAD 1.80–1.85 per kilometer, for a total of about CAD 13–15 per trip without long traffic jams. Two trips would cost approximately CAD 26–30 per day. UberX for the same distance, taking into account the lower starting fee and rate per kilometer, often costs CAD 9–13 per trip, or CAD 18–26 per day for two trips.
Even in the most optimistic scenario (let's say CAD 25–30/day for a promotional economy class car through an online platform), renting a car immediately puts you at a minimum of two Uber rides, but on top of that, you have to add fuel costs (even if you don't drive much, they won't be zero), potential parking costs in the city center, the risk of damaging the car (deductible, deposits, funds held on your card), and the time it takes to pick up and return the car.
If we talk about typical, rather than “promotional” prices — CAD 60–90/day — then with this level of use (two short trips), renting almost always loses out to taxis/Uber in pure mathematics. To “recoup” CAD 70–80 just by making short trips around the city, you need to make significantly more than 2–3 trips per day.
For people who use transportation occasionally (several times a week, not every day), the picture is even clearer: paying 10–20 CAD for Uber once is much easier than getting involved in a daily rental, deposit, gas, and parking.
Scenario 2: An active day with several errands in different areas
Let's take another scenario, closer to the limit where renting starts to compete — when there are many short trips in one day: 5 km to the clinic in the morning, then 7–8 km to the shopping center, then 6–7 km to friends, and in the evening another 5–6 km home.
This adds up to about 25–30 km per day, but the trips are broken down into 3–4 segments.
If you only use UberX, each 5–8 km trip will cost approximately CAD 9–16, depending on traffic and duration. Four such segments easily add up to CAD 40–60 per day, and sometimes more if there are traffic jams or rush hours. For a traditional taxi, this amount may be even higher, as the rate per kilometer and waiting time are higher than with Uber.
In this range of daily expenses (CAD 40–60 and above), renting starts to look competitive. If you find an economical rental option in the range of CAD 30–40/day, then even with a few dollars for fuel, the daily amount may be equal to or less than the total cost of all Uber trips for the day. When it comes to the average market price of CAD 70–90 per day, this rental still does not always seem like a clear win for purely urban trips of 25–30 km — the financial threshold is very close, and taxis/Uber save you a lot of hassle (parking, responsibility for the car, time spent picking up/dropping off the car).
For renting to become clearly more profitable, the daily mileage with multiple short trips should usually be around 40–60 km or more. And here we are not talking about “short trips” per se, but rather a busy day with many trips around the city — work, several meetings, a trip out of town, etc.
Scenario 3: trip to/from the airport plus several short trips
Another common scenario: a person arrives in Edmonton, takes a taxi/Uber to the city, and then uses them for several short trips. Here it is important to consider the cost of the airport transfer itself.
For a trip from YEG airport to the city center (approximately 30 km), a classic taxi usually costs 60–70 CAD, often at a fixed “airport rate,” UberX costs approximately 50–60 CAD, while other services may be even more expensive. If you only have one trip from the airport and then 1-2 short trips within the city, simple math shows that the total cost of a taxi/Uber will be lower than most rental + fuel options, especially if you are only in the city for a day or two.
It's a different story when you've arrived for 4-5 days, are planning several trips outside the city, to neighboring suburbs, or will be traveling frequently to work/run errands: then the total cost of taxis/Uber can easily exceed CAD 300–400 for a few days, and renting, even in the range of CAD 70–90/day, already starts to be a financially logical alternative.
Hidden costs and non-monetary factors
Pure mathematics is not the only criterion. There is a whole set of factors that often tip the scales in favor of one option or another, even if one option is nominally a little more expensive.
When renting a car, you should always remember about fuel costs, which are entirely your responsibility (for short city trips, this is not much, but never zero), parking, especially in the center, near large shopping malls or business centers, where in some areas the cost of a parking space can add a few dozens of dollars to your expenses, responsibility for any scratches, chips, parking fines or violations of the rules that come to you, as well as the time and hassle of paperwork: picking up the car, inspecting it, signing the contract, and then returning it — for a person who wants to make one or two trips a day, this often seems like an excessive hassle.
For their part, taxis and Uber relieve you of the hassle of parking and technical responsibility for the car, but you are tied to the availability of cars in the area (during rush hour, bad weather, or far from the center, the waiting time may increase), During major events or winter storms, Uber's rates can jump due to “surge pricing” and temporarily become significantly more expensive than the usual level, and if there are many trips, constant small payments are psychologically perceived as “constant spending,” although in total they can be close to a daily rental.
There are also purely practical arguments. For a family with a child and a car seat, shopping, and a stroller, it is often convenient to have “your own” car for a day or a week, even if in dry figures it is slightly more expensive. For a single adult who lives near the LRT or frequent bus routes and only occasionally calls an Uber, renting for a few short trips in the city almost never seems economically justified.
Conclusions: when is a taxi/Uber more profitable, and when is renting more profitable?
If we boil it down to practical guidelines specifically for short trips within Edmonton, the picture looks like this.
It is more profitable to use a taxi/Uber in the following cases: if you have 1-3 short trips around the city per day (3-10 km each) — the cost of 15-40 CAD for Uber or a taxi is usually lower than the actual cost of a daily rental, including taxes, at least the minimum fuel cost, and potential parking; if you use transport not every day, but from time to time — paying only when you actually travel is much more efficient than constantly keeping a rented car under your window; If you dislike or are afraid of driving in winter conditions, are not yet familiar with the city, or do not want to deal with parking issues. If you are only in town for 1–2 days and your plans are limited to a few errands in the center and, perhaps, one trip to the mall.
Renting starts to look profitable even for relatively short trips in the following situations: If you have 4-6 or more trips to different parts of the city during the day, and the total mileage for the day is 40-60 km or more — with an adequate rental rate (especially if you can find 30-40 CAD/day). the car may already cost as much or less than the total cost of all trips by Uber/taxi; if you are visiting for a few days or weeks and plan to actively travel around the city and its surroundings almost every day — here, the cumulative effect makes renting significantly more attractive; if you absolutely need a trunk, a child seat, transportation for an animal, or large purchases, a (rented) car gives you the freedom that a taxi/Uber cannot always provide conveniently and cheaply.
Returning specifically to the question of “what is more profitable for short trips,” the answer is this: with typical usage intensity of 1-3 short trips per day in Edmonton, it is often more profitable to use a taxi or Uber rather than renting a car. Renting makes sense when there are a lot of short trips, they add up to a high daily mileage, or when other things that are important to you are added to the price factor — comfort, independence from services and schedules, the need to frequently travel outside the city.