More than half of ride-hailing trips taken using services such as Uber or Lyft replace more sustainable forms of transportation, such as walking, cycling and public transit, a new study by the University of California, Davis Institute of Transportation Studies has found.
The California-based study was undertaken to help guide development of the Clean Miles Standard, a regulation established by the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ride-hailing services.
It gathered data from riders in three metropolitan regions in California, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, and Los Angeles and Orange counties, encompassing 7,333 ride-hailing trips by 2,458 respondents.
Alternative to sustainable methods
According to the findings, some 47% of the trips taken replaced a journey that would have been otherwise undertaken by public transit, carpool, walking or cycling. Additionally, 58% of the trips represented ‘induced travel’, indicating that the person would not have made the trip if an Uber or Lyft option was unavailable.
‘This suggests ride-hailing often tends to replace most sustainable transportation modes and leads to additional vehicle miles traveled,’ the authors state.
To enhance sustainability, the study suggests that ride-hailing trips, particularly those offered by shared or pooled services, should be more effectively integrated with public transit in low-demand areas. This approach would allow ride-hailing services to complement, rather than replace, existing public transportation options, thereby supporting a more sustainable transport network.
Increase sustainability
“Hopefully, the results of this study can be used to increase the sustainability of ride-hailing and also address potential equity issues that are apparent,” said lead author James Giller, a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis.
“There’s certainly a place for ride-hailing and opportunities to improve its sustainability. It’s all about making sure it’s used in the most efficient way by increasing the occupancy of the vehicles; by making sure these trips connect people to transit stations for longer distance travel; that they’re done in efficient, clean cars; and that we can reduce as much as possible the inefficiencies associated with finding passengers and going to pick them up.” Read the full study here.
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