A new study from the University of California Davis determined that rideshare services like Uber and Lyft add to the congestion of streets, whether or not the passengers own cars of their own.
The study found that the availability of rideshare options leads to fewer public transit rides on buses and railways. They also found that people will take rideshare when they would have otherwise gone with an option like walking or biking, and as much as 49 to 61 percent of the time.
Ninety-one percent of people who use the services haven’t made changes to whether they own a car, but even if they got rid of their car their overall miles riding in one has gone up.
The study’s co-author Regina Clewlow spoke about the findings.
“We found that a large portion of travelers are substituting ride-hailing in place of public transit, biking, and walking trips. These trips, which are being substituted for or generated by ride-hailing, are most likely adding vehicles to the road in major metropolitan areas.”
