A Lyft in every garage?

We are seeing more Lyfts and Ubers on the road these days.  Plenty more.  You might say, 'well, if it reduces our carbon footprint' then it's a good thing.

But, is the environment really benefiting?

I can tell you, at this moment, the McCartneys' song "Too Many People' is playing in my head.
Paul and Linda's good old 70's post-Beatle earth-friendly gook on John Lennon as the two ex-Beatles traded barbs:

Too many people going underground

Too many reaching for a piece of cake

Too many people pulled and pushed around

Too many waiting for that lucky break

That was your first mistake
You took your lucky break and broke it in two
Now what can be done for you?
You broke it in two

How is the successful rise in the sharing economy affecting 'crown jewel' cities like SF and Bejing as these highways and markets in these cities become saturated with rideshare drivers?

But, by becoming ridesharing kings of the hill, are Uber and Lyft helping to reduce our environmental footprint, by cutting down on overall passenger driving, as they claim, or is the spike in drivers really doing more harm?

For my average Joe or Jane passenger, the fact that these companies can race each other to the bottom on fares is hardly a reason to complain.

Certainly not if you're Uber, whose relentless expansion includes $600 SF driver referral bonuses while displaying highway billboards near Mineta Airport in San Jose advertising Uber to travelers to China.

Also, Lyft's touristy SF bus wraps, own ubiquitous pink billboard campaign with cuddly couples and captions like, 'Date night.  A ride for every reason.'   These are designed to promote the benefits of less people having to drive.   My Lyft and Uber passengers' repeated refrain is that ridesharing is cheaper than owning a car. Besides, it's a friendlier commodity, and some will argue, more reliable way getting them from A to B as compared to taxis or other transport.

My passenger Steven pinged me on a sunday morning from the west side of the city to SFO.
He said ridesharing is superior to waiting around for a cab, with several rideshare drivers "within three minutes away from me," he said.


Is all this good for the Earth? University California Berkeley scientists and their research partner want to know.

They are looking into the actual effects created by ride sharing in cities.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/106565/20151113/uber-lyft-will-part-study-environmental-impact-ridesharing-services.htm

Other than competitive pricing, I'm curious to know the impact, positive or negative, as the ride sharing driver cohort continues to increase.  Please do share your comments.

Give the gift of LYFT, through the month of December:

Use my code for $20 new passenger Lyft rideshare credit  https://www.lyft.com/invited/ERIC930126