Op-ed Beer: Ride-hailing — good for you but not for the planet
Many people in Metro Vancouver are breathing a sigh of relief with the arrival of ride-hailing options like Uber and Lyft. Finally, more choices on how we get around and ways to get places faster. Yet in terms of responding to the climate emergency they should be worried, not relieved. If Metro Vancouver follows other North American cities, we can expect congestion and carbon pollution to get worse, not better.
A 2017 study by researchers at University of California Davis surveyed 4,000 residents in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay Area. It found that more than 20 per cent of respondents used ride-hailing. Ride-hailing led to a drop in bus use of six per cent and light-rail use of three per cent. Researchers in this and other studies concluded that ride-hailing contributed to people travelling longer distances in vehicles.
Metro can learn from other North American cities and limit some of the damage. Municipalities can follow the lead of the City of Vancouver, which voted to ask the province to leave the door open to a congestion fee for ride-hailing companies. While provincial rules don’t allow municipalities to determine the numbers of cars, allowing them to introduce fees could help regulate congestion.
We can also support services like car-share that are far better climate solutions, especially when cars are electric, and more likely to help people give up their cars. One study showed that car-share programs lead to fewer vehicles owned, from an average of 0.47 vehicles per household to an average of 0.24, mostly due to some one-car households becoming carless. People using car-share are also driving less.
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