How Ride-Hailing Apps Are Contributing To Climate Change

While many of us are familiar with the ethical concerns around working practices in the ride-hailing industry, few people are aware of the ecological impact that this burgeoning sector is having on the world around us.

Today we look at how ride-hailing apps might be increasing your carbon footprint, and the role you can play in tackling this growing issue.

Uber emissions

A recent study by the US Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) found that the use of ride-hailing companies like Uber, Lyft and Curb result in around 69% higher emissions on average than the trips that they replace.

This can be attributed to two major causes: firstly the distance that the vehicle travels without a passenger between hired rides, and secondly an increase in the number of total car trips, where ride-hailing passengers would have previously used public transport, bikes, walked or forgone the trip entirely.

The latter is particularly worrying, as it shows that more people are taking unnecessary journeys when they would have opted not to do so in the past.

This is exacerbated when the ride is not shared with another passenger (known as a non-pooled ride), which account for the vast majority of journeys taken in ride-hail vehicles. However, where two passengers share a ride-hailing vehicle for at least half of their trip, it can essentially eliminate the climate disadvantage of ride-hailing compared with two private car trips.

However, we must also remember that these journeys are also adding to congestion in our cities, increasing idling and emissions – whereas the same journey could be undertaken by public transport, bike, e-scooter or by walking, which would create fewer or no emissions and actively take cars off the road to reduce congestion.

Credit: Ride-Hailing’s Climate Risks Steering a Growing Industry toward a Clean Transportation Future, UCS — Credit: Ride-Hailing’s Climate Risks Steering a Growing Industry toward a Clean Transportation Future, UCS

Too little, too late?

The UCS study utilised publicly available ride-hailing data from seven major US metropolitan areas, and found that the vast majority of the vehicles being used for ride-hailing at present are internal combustion engine (petrol, diesel or hybrid). These are the most harmful types of vehicles for both public and environmental health.

Uber has committed to replacing all its vehicles with battery electric cars by 2040, and has set aside $800 million to support the switch. However, with every major climate model showing that we need to take action before 30, this seems like too little, too late.

It would also appear that they plan to use carbon offsetting from 2030 to give the appearance of acting on their emissions, when this is little more than greenwashing – as per our article Applegreen-Washing: Separating Action From Marketing Ploys.

While the UCS study found that an electric ride-hailing trip can cut emissions by about 68% compared with a private vehicle trip in the average car, there are some questions remaining.

Certainly, having ride-hailing apps making the switch to electric cars would help to make them more sustainable from an emissions perspective, but it would also appear that Uber and their rivals have paid little consideration to where the energy will come from – if this is not sourced from renewable energy then the benefits will be considerable reduced.

This is once again another story to show that it is easier for companies to hoodwink consumers than it is to take meaningful action.

Truly, if we are to take action on climate change, we need to be moving more people out of cars and into public transport, or provide them with the infrastructure to feel safe cycling or walking in our cities.

For practical information on how better urban planning can help us take action on climate change, see our articles on 15 Minute Cities and Speed Limits: Improving Public & Environmental Health.

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