Understanding Lyft’s Impact on Congestion
The ability to get to work, to visit friends and family, or to get to an appointment on-time has a direct impact on a person’s quality of life and access to opportunities. That is why Lyft is committed to improving mobility options by partnering with cities to address the continuing challenges around congestion.
Lyft was founded to address this very issue: reducing car ownership and promoting shared rides is at the core of what we do. Today, Lyft provides travel options that improve mobility by integrating public transit options and shared rides, encouraging individuals to reduce car ownership, and partnering with cities to launch bikes and scooters. But while we strive to provide more choices for people to get around, we are in a time of rapid and profound change in urban mobility that is impacting cities. Congestion in urban areas is not a new issue, so what do we know about it?
What Causes Congestion?
With the growth of America’s cities and urban sprawl enabled by the private car, many people have no choice but to continue to rely heavily on personal cars to get around. In fact, 76 percent of Americans drive alone when commuting to work according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Simply put, the extensive use of single occupancy vehicles is the primary source of congestion — but extrapolating the specific causes beyond that is not so easy.
Congestion is a complex issue caused by a wide range of factors which include land-use policies, affordable housing, availability of transit, city planning, population growth in urban areas, and others. Given Lyft’s growth, some are asking about the role we play in causing congestion. We wanted to get answers.
Of course, local governments are also exploring new solutions to tackle the historical problem of congestion. We have long supported holistic, comprehensive approaches to reducing traffic and are excited to collaborate with cities to find smart, sensible solutions together, such as increasing affordable housing near transit, implementing congestion pricing, developing complete street designs, and timing traffic signals.
Lyft’s Role
INRIX and Transpo Group, two leading authorities in transportation and traffic, recently conducted studies utilizing Lyft data on the state of congestion in three major cities: Manhattan, Chicago and San Francisco. The findings show that the primary contributors to congestion are macroeconomic drivers, including population and economic growth, a lack of housing near employment centers, and increasing e-commerce deliveries. As Inrix highlighted, it is not possible to conclude that Lyft is the primary contributor to the growth of congestion in these cities.
Here are the key findings by city from the INRIX and Transpo Group reports:
- Manhattan locations with the largest growth in Lyft activity have not had the largest decrease in average daily speeds.
- Population and total trips of all kinds are rising in New York City, especially freight trips due to e-commerce.
- As congestion rises, freight trips are increasing across the East River, while passenger trips decrease even as Lyft trips increase.
- Subway and Lyft shared rides improve efficiency of the transportation system.
- Lyft plays a small role in contributing to congestion, with Lyft trips representing fewer than 4 percent of total vehicle trips.
- The most dramatic congestion increases happened before Lyft’s growth. The most significant speed decreases occurred in 2014, prior to the growth of Lyft in the area.
- Lyft shared rides now serve 30 percent of all Lyft trips in Chicago.
- Bay Area locations with the largest growth in Lyft activity have not had the largest decrease in average daily speeds. Areas with little Lyft growth have seen more dramatic increases in congestion.
- Lyft trips account for less than 1 percent of daily traffic along the San Mateo, Golden Gate, and Bay Bridges.
- Lyft pickups and drop-offs outside of San Francisco are concentrated around Caltrain and BART stations.
- Regional changes such as population and employment growth, as well as the lack of housing near employment centers likely play larger roles in the increase in congestion.
But these aren’t the only reports that point to varying factors leading to congestion. In 2015, the UCLA Department of Urban Planning found that drivers cruising around streets looking for on-street parking also contributes to congestion. In contrast, Lyft rides are efficient and eliminate the time behind the wheel searching for a parking spot.
Part of the Solution
Lyft and the growth of ridesharing has had a transformative impact on people’s lives and our communities. Ridesharing has helped take cars off the road, reduce transportation barriers and improve access — particularly benefiting those in historically underserved areas. In fact, a survey conducted by the Shared-Use Mobility Center found that “TNC use is associated with decreases in respondents’ vehicle ownership and single-occupancy vehicle trips” and “takes place in communities of all income levels.” Studies measuring the regional effects of ridesharing on congestion and transit use have reinforced these survey findings: ASU found that the entrance of ridesharing in a region lead to a decrease in traffic times, while the University of Toronto found that the introduction of ridesharing into a region resulted in a 5 percent increase in transit usage on average.
These findings are not surprising, however. It reaffirms what we already know — that the majority of Lyft rides take place outside of commute hours, such as nights and weekends, when there is little to no congestion and limited alternative transportation options. And due to availability of ridesharing during these hours, more passengers are choosing to take a Lyft ride home than driving impaired. The impact is real. In Miami-Dade, the two largest police departments in Southeastern US recently announced that there has been a 65 percent decline in DUI arrests in 2017 compared to four years prior thanks in part to ridesharing. Not only is Lyft having positive impact on congestion but we’re also seeing noticeable gains in the area of improved road safety.
But we’re just getting started. We are at the cusp of great change in our cities and communities — a chance to make our cities designed around people, not cars. Lyft is committed to a multimodal future that encourages transit use, reduces car ownership and promotes shared rides. That is why we’re going beyond the app and supporting efforts to address barriers to this vision such as building housing near transit so that people have greater access to sustainable transportation options and spend less time in cars.
We are excited for what’s ahead and look forward to working closely with cities and our partners in government towards a future of improved mobility.
