Our Team
Meet Vincent Ruan, Founder of RideWise
RideWise is built and maintained by Vincent Ruan, a software engineer with over a decade of experience building data-driven platforms in financial technology. He combines that background with daily rideshare research to power the free Uber vs Lyft vs taxi comparison tool — in-depth pricing guides for 20+ major US cities and the busiest US airports, plus 50+ editorial guides.
Vincent Ruan
LinkedInFounder
Vincent Ruan is the founder of RideWise. He has more than a decade of experience building startups and consumer data platforms, including several years as a software engineer at large-scale technology companies. He built RideWise to automate the Uber-vs-Lyft price comparison he was doing by hand before every ride.
After years of manually switching between the Uber and Lyft apps before every ride to find the better price, Vincent built RideWise to automate that comparison. The idea was simple: aggregate the publicly available rate cards that Uber and Lyft publish for each city, apply the same fare formulas the apps use internally, and show riders a side-by-side estimate — without needing to open two apps. What started as a weekend project grew into a comparison tool with reviewed city guides, editorial research, verified rate data for 8 service tiers, and time-of-day surge estimates.
Technical Expertise
Full-stack engineering (React, Node.js, TypeScript, Python)Data pipeline architecture & pricing modelsTransportation data analysisAPI design & scalable systems
Professional Background
Founder — RideWise
2025 – Present
Built the rideshare fare comparison platform from scratch — data pipelines for rate card aggregation, pricing estimation engine, and the consumer-facing comparison tool.
Software Engineer — Large-scale technology companies
Previous
Spent several years building data-driven platforms and consumer data products at scale before founding RideWise.
Why I Built RideWise
As a software engineer commuting across New York City, I was spending a significant portion of my transportation budget on rideshares. The routine was always the same: open Uber, check the price, switch to Lyft, compare, then decide. It was tedious, and I knew I was leaving money on the table when I didn't bother to compare.
The turning point was realizing that both Uber and Lyft publish their rate cards — the base fares, per-mile rates, and per-minute rates for every city. These are public data. The fare formula is straightforward: Base + (Rate × Distance) + (Rate × Time) + Booking Fee. If I could aggregate these rate cards, I could estimate and compare fares for any route without opening either app.
That weekend project became RideWise. I built the data pipeline to aggregate rate cards from Uber, Lyft, and local taxi commissions for supported US markets. The estimation engine applies each provider's published formula to any given route. The result: riders can compare fares from every major provider in one place, instantly.
I maintain the platform myself — updating rate data monthly when providers adjust pricing, validating estimates against real fares, and expanding coverage to new markets. The goal hasn't changed: help riders stop overpaying by making rideshare pricing transparent.
What Vincent Writes About
Editorial coverage on RideWise spans four core areas. Every article is written or edited by Vincent personally and fact-checked against primary sources per our editorial standards.
Rideshare Pricing Mechanics
How Uber and Lyft calculate fares from base + per-mile + per-minute + booking fee components, why prices shift by city, and where the algorithms diverge.
Airport Rideshare Economics
Pickup zone logistics, airport authority surcharges, and ground-transport alternatives for the busiest US airports — data sourced from airport authority filings and on-the-ground observation.
First-Party Pricing Research
Original ride-tracking experiments and rate-card analysis. Vincent personally collected and analyzed the data behind every first-party study published on RideWise.
Consumer Strategy & Cancellations
How to save money, what fees you can dispute, how cancellation policies actually work, and when to use taxis or transit instead.
Our Data Approach
Every RideWise estimate is built on publicly available data, not opinion. I aggregate rate cards from Uber's published fare pages, Lyft's pricing page, and local taxi commission regulatory filings for supported US markets. The pricing engine factors in base fares, per-mile and per-minute rates, booking fees, airport surcharges, and time-of-day demand patterns.
I validate estimates against actual fare data and update the rate card database monthly as providers adjust pricing. When academic research is available — such as the November 2025 Johns Hopkins Carey Business School / NBER study (WP 34441) analyzing 2,238 identical NYC rides — I incorporate those findings to refine our methodology and editorial content.
For complete transparency on how the data flows, see our methodology page or read about our editorial standards and corrections policy.
About Vincent Ruan & RideWise — FAQ
Who founded RideWise?
RideWise was founded in 2025 by Vincent Ruan, who has more than a decade of experience building startups and consumer data platforms, including several years as a software engineer at large-scale technology companies. He still maintains the platform himself, including the monthly rate-card refreshes and editorial reviews.
What is Vincent Ruan's background?
Vincent has more than a decade of experience building startups and consumer data platforms, including several years as a software engineer at large-scale technology companies. He combines that data-platform experience with a daily NYC commuter's perspective on rideshare pricing.
Does RideWise have a team beyond Vincent?
RideWise is a single-founder company. Vincent personally writes editorial content, validates rate-card data, runs first-party tracking experiments, and reviews every published article. The site does not use ghost writers or pen names — every piece is published under a real author byline.
How can I contact Vincent or the RideWise team?
For editorial questions, corrections, or partnership inquiries, email hello@getridewise.com. You can also call (732) 883-6219 during US Eastern business hours. All contact details are on the Contact page.
Is RideWise affiliated with Uber or Lyft?
No. RideWise is an independent consumer tool with no affiliation to Uber Technologies or Lyft, Inc. The site does not earn affiliate commissions on rides booked through its comparisons. Revenue comes from display advertising. Editorial recommendations are made independent of any revenue consideration.
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