Uber is increasingly becoming the preferred transportation option for Toronto residents, according to a new poll by Forum Research.

The recent poll, which randomly sampled 802 Toronto adults, found that 28 per cent say they have used the popular ride-hailing app, up from 22 per cent in July and 18 per cent in April.

The poll also suggests that customer satisfaction is significantly higher with Uber compared to traditional cabs.

Of those who have used Uber, 93 per cent said they were satisfied with the experience while just 52 per cent of those surveyed said they were satisfied with the taxi experience.

While the debate on regulating Uber continues at city hall, 34 per cent of respondents said they would prefer the city to loosen taxi regulations instead to allow cab drivers to compete with Uber. Thirty per cent said Uber’s regulations should match that of traditional taxis. Close to 20 per cent said they think the entire cab industry should be deregulated and only seven per cent of respondents said they thought Uber should be banned.

Earlier this month, Uber launched uberHOP, a carpooling service that allows people to share a ride with others on the city’s busiest routes during rush hour for a $5 flat fee.

The survey found that 65 per cent of respondents approved of uberHOP compared to just 20 per cent who did not approve of the service.

About half of those surveyed said they would actually use uberHOP if it was available in their neighbourhood.

“While Toronto clearly sees the benefit of sensible transportation regulation, they also think very highly of Uber, are using it more, are interested in uberHOP and would favour deregulating the taxi industry to enough of an extent that it can compete with Uber as it exists now,” Forum Research President Lorne Bozinoff said in his analysis accompanying the poll.

The poll was conducted on Dec. 23 and results based on the total sample are considered accurate plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Toronto Taxi Alliance releases list of 'New Year's resolutions':

The release of the poll comes on the same day the Toronto Taxi Alliance sent out a list of “New Year’s resolutions” aiming to improve customer service in 2016.

Items on the list include encouraging taxi drivers to accept the first available customer regardless of where they are going, provide cars that are clean inside and out, maintain a good attitude, refrain from talking on cellphones while passengers are in the vehicle, readily accept all forms of payment and respect cyclists/ stay out of bike lanes.

“(The taxi industry is) not perfect. We never claimed we were but we want to move toward becoming better,” Sam Moini, a spokesperson for the TTA, told CP24 Wednesday.

“It is a process that the industry has to work on together. I can’t say every cab driver is going to become overnight courteous and attentive but we are going to work towards that. We want to make the industry better.”

Moini claims the changes have nothing to do with the arrival of Uber.

“Uber is not the reason why we want to better ourselves,” he said.

“Uber is an illegal company… we aren’t here to compete with them. We are here to better our own service to step up our own game for our customers.”