Traffic sewage you down? If nan thought of locking your car keys successful a drawer and utilizing alternate intends of proscription sounds intriguing, Uber has nan situation for you. Today, nan ridehailing institution announced nan One Less Car trial, successful which 175 group successful nan US and Canada will beryllium selected to ditch their cars for 5 weeks successful speech for rate and credits to beryllium put toward different recreation modes.
Call it a gimmick aliases a PR stunt, Uber says nan purpose is to item nan precocious costs of individual car ownership, arsenic good arsenic each nan outer effects connected our wellness and nan cities wherever we live. Uber has agelong advocated for less cars connected nan roadworthy — moreover arsenic studies have shown that nan app-based ridehailing manufacture has intensified postulation congestion successful cities.
The proceedings is modeled connected a akin research conducted by Uber and nan Behavioral Insights Team successful Australia successful 2023, successful which dozens of residents were challenged to springiness up their cars for 4 weeks.
Uber says nan purpose is to item nan precocious costs of individual car ownership
Now, Uber is bringing its research to North America. Car owners successful Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, Miami, San Francisco, Toronto, and Vancouver willing successful participating can sign up online for nan five-week trial, which will return spot July 22nd–August 25th. Uber will past prime 30 group from each metropolis to springiness up their cars during those 5 weeks.
Each subordinate will person $1,000 — based connected nan mean monthly costs for conveyance ownership successful nan US — to usage connected (what else) Uber rides, bike- and scooter-share, car rental and carshare, and nationalist transportation. Here’s really nan stipend really breaks down:
- $500 successful “Uber Cash” redeemable successful nan Uber app for car trips, aliases Lime motorcycle and scooter share.
- $200 voucher redeemable for car rental aliases carshare.
- $300 crossed different proscription modes, specified arsenic nationalist transit.
Uber will besides propulsion successful a one-month free Uber One membership, successful which subscribers tin gain 6 percent Uber Cash connected eligible rides and $0 transportation fees connected eligible food, groceries, and more.
There are a fewer requirements earlier signing up. You must beryllium 18 aliases older, person a driver’s license, a conveyance that you usage much than 3 times per week, a slope card, and beryllium comfortable documenting your experience. The first week will beryllium considered nan “control period,” wherever each subordinate will beryllium expected to archive their mobility habits.
Each subordinate will person $1,000
“Many Uber riders show america they want to unrecorded a much car-light manner pinch a assortment of ways to ride, including nationalist transit, shared bikes and scooters, walking, and rideshare,” Adam Gromis, world caput of sustainability argumentation astatine Uber, said successful a statement. “This investigation is captious to thief america fig retired really to make car-light surviving imaginable for much group who want to prevention money, emissions and clip successful traffic.”
Uber isn’t nan first institution to travel up pinch this thought for a car-free trial. It’s not moreover nan first ridehail institution to effort it. In 2018, Lyft launched its “Ditch pinch Lyft” trial, successful which hundreds of participants successful dozens of cities were fixed $550 successful Lyft credits, bikeshare, and different tender to springiness up their cars for a month. The situation past morphed into an connection of free Lyft trips to group who sold their cars connected Carvana.
Uber says it was inspired to tackle its ain proceedings aft seeing encouraging results successful Australia, successful which participants reported accrued walking, biking, and nationalist transit usage during nan challenge. Uber concluded that group request entree to astatine slightest 4 different modes of proscription successful bid to successfully ditch their cars. Still, fewer of nan participants said they’d beryllium consenting to spell truthful acold arsenic to waste their cars and trust only connected replacement modes — only 3 of nan 58 said they planned to do this “in nan adjacent future.”
It will beryllium absorbing to way nan consequence to nan situation successful these various cities, pinch various levels of transit, motorcycle infrastructure, and density, to spot really good Uber’s mentation astir individual car ownership plays out. And it will beryllium arsenic absorbing to spot if Uber takes immoderate lessons distant astir its ain contributions to car traffic.