Is traffic getting you down? If the idea of locking your car keys in a drawer and using other modes of transportation sounds interesting, Uber can give you the challenge. Today, the ride-hailing company announced a “One Less Car” trial in which 175 passengers in the United States and Canada will be selected to give up their cars for five weeks in exchange for cash and points that can be used on other modes of travel.
Uber calls it a gimmick or PR stunt meant to highlight the high cost of owning a personal car, along with all the external impacts on our health and the cities we live in. Uber has long advocated for removing cars from the road — despite studies showing the app-based ride-hailing industry is exacerbating traffic congestion in cities.
The trial is modeled on a similar experiment conducted by Uber and the Behavioral Insights team in Australia in 2023, in which dozens of residents were challenged to abandon their cars for four weeks.
Uber said the move was aimed at highlighting the high cost of personal car ownership
Now, Uber is bringing its experiment to North America. Car owners in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Miami, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver who are interested in participating can sign up online for the five-week trial, which will run from July 22 to August 25. Uber will then select 30 people from each city to give up their cars during the five weeks.
Each participant will receive $1,000 (based on the average monthly cost of vehicle ownership in the U.S.) to spend on (what else) Uber rides, bike and scooter sharing, car rentals and car sharing, and public transportation. Here’s what the allowance actually looks like:
- $500 in “Uber Cash” can be redeemed in the Uber app for car trips, or Lime bike and scooter sharing.
- $200 coupon redeemable for car rental or car sharing.
- Other modes of transportation (e.g. public transportation) are USD 300.
Uber will also launch a free one-month Uber One membership, where subscribers can earn 6% Uber Cash on eligible rides and $0 delivery fees on eligible food, groceries and more .
There are some requirements before registering. You must be 18 years or older, have a driver’s license, a vehicle that you use more than 3 times a week, a bank card, and be able to easily record your experience. The first week will be considered a “control period,” with each participant required to record their mobility habits.
Each participant will receive $1,000
Adam Gromis, global head of sustainability policy at Uber, said: “Many Uber riders tell us they want to live a car-less lifestyle through a variety of transportation options, including public transit, bike and scooter sharing, walking and ridesharing. ” said in a statement. “This research is vital in helping us figure out how to make car-less living available to more people who want to save money, emissions and travel time.”
Uber isn’t the first company to come up with the idea of a car-free experiment. It’s not even the first ride-hailing company to try this. In 2018, Lyft launched its “Ditch with Lyft” trial, in which hundreds of participants in dozens of cities received $550 in Lyft points, shared bikes and other incentives to give up their cars for a month. The challenge then evolved into offering free Lyft rides to people who sold their cars on Carvana.
Uber said it was inspired to run its own trial after seeing encouraging results in Australia, with participants reporting an increase in walking, cycling and public transport use during the challenge. Uber concluded that people would need to use at least four other modes of transportation to successfully ditch their cars. Despite this, few participants said they were willing to sell their cars and rely solely on alternative models – only 3 out of 58 participants said they planned to do so “in the near future.”
It will be interesting to track how these different cities, with varying levels of traffic, bike infrastructure and density, respond to this challenge and see how Uber’s theory of personal car ownership plays out. It will also be interesting to see whether Uber learns from its contribution to car transportation.
