Sorry, Single Passenger Ridesharing Trips Are Worse For the Environment: Research Paper

Ridesharing options like Uber UBER and Lyft LYFT have a more costly environmental impact than driving with ones’ personal car, according to a new research paper from the Environmental Science & Technology journal. 

What Happened: The new paper shows that the negative externalities — or costs to the environment — from single-passenger ridesharing vehicles is steep. That is, even switching from private vehicular travel to a ridesharing vehicle “increases external costs by 30%-35%.” 

This is partly because ridesharing cars need to drive around for a while before picking up more passengers. Interestingly, while these rides lead to more greenhouse gas emissions, congestion and noise, they allow for less air pollution. That’s because, as science writer David Roberts writes, “Their engines are already running, so they don’t do cold starts. In addition, (ride-hailing) vehicles are, on average, newer, and thus cleaner.” 

What Else: Notably, if more passengers are added to an Uber or Lyft ride, the negative externalities are lower than if personal-use cars carry no passengers at all. 

These two options aside, to seriously reduce carbon emissions, American suburbs and cities will have to create more walking, biking and public transit options. As is noted in a 2021 research paper, cities with the highest emissions — Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago — also have a dearth of viable transit options aside from taking a personal car or ride-hailing vehicle. 

Photo: Paul Hanaoka via Unsplash.