如果我们的生活不受汽车的束缚会怎么样?

In 2020, getting around without the hassles and expenses of individual car ownership is becoming more plausible. 对于那些有车的人来说, 有很多理由让你把车留在家里，使用公共交通工具, 叫车服务，如优步或Lyft, 或者两者的结合. Maybe you’re traveling for work and don’t want to drive to the airport or deal with parking expenses. On that same business trip, maybe the ease and economy of cutting out a car rental are appealing. 也许你不想处理交通、停车或在一个未知的地方导航. Maybe you’re concerned about the environmental impacts of car emissions and want to lessen your carbon footprint.

Whatever the reason, 把车留在家里——或者一开始就不买车——可以带来很多好处. But according to a 突破性的UCS分析, it also comes with a cost.

As humans, we crave mobility and are wired to choose what’s most convenient while seeking the path of least resistance. These inclinations are behind the exponential growth rates ride-hailing companies are experiencing. 在美国，叫车服务现在提供的出行量远远超过出租车. On a typical day, Uber completes nearly 14 million trips; in 2018, Lyft celebrated one billion rides.

里程表日夜不停地在全球运行, 很难不去想那些, 许多英里意味着我们的环境, 以及它们对617888九五至尊娱乐变化的影响. Today, transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. 虽然人们很容易认为叫车服务是一种617888九五至尊娱乐友好的选择, our analysis shows that ride-hailing trips today are about 69 percent more polluting than the types of trips they are replacing.

Why is that?

有几个原因. 一种现象被称为 deadheading:车里没有乘客的行驶里程. This occurs quite often between dropping off Passenger A at the airport and picking up Passenger B who may be several miles away. As a result, a non-pooled ride-hailing trip on average produces almost 50 percent more carbon emissions than the same trip in a privately-owned car.

However, ride-hailing trips are not just taking the place of car trips—they’re also displacing other lower-carbon modes of transportation like walking, biking, and transit. 考虑到这些因素后， the average ride-hailing trip produces an estimated 69 percent more emissions than the trips it replaces.

That’s right: while these services represent a major shift in the way we get around and offer real convenience for consumers, our analysis of the data shows that ride-hailing companies are increasing climate pollution.

In light of our findings, we recommend that ride-hailing companies and policymakers begin to make smart choices that will minimize the negative climate impacts of ride-hailing services, especially as policymakers are struggling to keep up with the fast growth and changes ride-hailing companies are bringing.

那么，哪些解决方案将有助于缓解这些问题呢? The good news is that pooling trips and accelerating the transition to electric vehicles can reduce emissions. 与普通的私家车旅行相比, a pooled ride-hailing trip has similar emissions; an electric ride-hailing trip can cut emissions by about 50 percent; and an electric and pooled ride-hailing trip can reduce emissions by nearly 70 percent.  消费者也可以尽自己的一份力量:如果你使用叫车服务的话, 你可以推动这些公司和当地政策制定者做得更好.

Key findings

• Ride-hailing trips have a much higher carbon impact than the trips they replace—the average ride-hailing trip produces an estimated 69 percent more carbon emissions than the trips it replaces.
• 与私家车旅行相比, 一趟非拼车网约车的碳排放量会增加47%左右.
• A pooled ride-hailing trip shared between two passengers is similar in emissions to a private vehicle trip, 比非拼车出行的污染低33%左右.
• Electrifying ride-hailing vehicles would dramatically improve the climate emissions of ride-hailing trips. An electric ride-hailing trip would cut emissions by about 50 percent compared to a private vehicle trip; a pooled, electric ride-hailing trip would lower emissions by nearly 70 percent compared to a private vehicle trip (or about 79 percent compared with a non-pooled ride-hailing trip).
• On average, bus and rail travel have lower carbon emissions than car travel in either a private vehicle or in a pooled or non-pooled ride-hailing vehicle. 然而，使用网约车连接公共交通可能是一个很好的低碳选择. For example, 与火车相连的拼车服务, 哪里的网约车行程占总行程的四分之一, 能比私家车少污染50%以上吗.