The CSR Newsletters this week are on the topic of transportation, public and private, in and around our cities.
One of the many advantages Uber was supposed to bring was the reduction in traffic around our cities. If we all didn't need to buy cars, the argument went, congestion would drop, we could find something more useful to do with all the space taken up by parking spots, we would arrive for appointments on time (because we would not need to search for parking), and, of course, the air would get cleaner as emissions dropped. As noted in the article in the url below:
"Five years ago, Travis Kalanick was so confident that Uber Technologies Inc.'s rides would prompt people to leave their cars at home that he told a tech conference: 'If every car in San Francisco was Ubered there would be no traffic.'"
Well, file this under the bulging folder of unintended consequences, but you may not be too surprised to find out that it has not worked out quite like that:
"Today, a mounting collection of studies shows the opposite: Far from easing traffic, Uber and its main rival Lyft Inc. are adding to congestion in numerous U.S. downtowns."
The article begins to quantify the effect of ride-hailing cars on our city streets and it is not good. For example:
"In New York, for-hire vehicle trips more than doubled from 2010 to 2018, while travel speed in lower Manhattan slowed 23%."
Here are some more select statistics quoted:
- 2.5 miles an hour: "Average downtown San Francisco traffic speed slowdown due to ride-hailing apps between 2010 and 2016."
- About 40%: "The share of time ride-hailing cars in California and New York City cruise without passengers."
- 77%: "Share of ride-hailing trips that are requested for one party only, rather than pooled, in Chicago's downtown."
- 309%: "The rise in ride-hailing trips starting or ending in downtown Chicago between 2015 and 2018."
Of course, none of this includes the effect Uber has had on the people who drive these cars for us, the conditions they work under, and whether the rise of contract workers simply exacerbates inequality (e.g., see Strategic CSR – Uber). Now, how do we put that genie back in its bottle?
Take care
David
David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2020
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The Ride-hail Utopia That Got Stuck in Traffic
By Eliot Brown
February 15-16, 2020
The Wall Street Journal
Late Edition – Final
B1, B6
