[apendleton]

> I'm having a hard time seeing how my use of ridesharing services instead of driving myself could increase traffic

I don't think it does; your use is in line with the rideshare operators' claims as to why traffic should go down given their service: that it makes it easier for people to not own a car, and that consequently while some of their trips will be ride share, they might be shared, and others will be more likely to be transit.

I think what the studies are showing, though, is that not everyone's behavior is like yours. Some people (like me, for instance), didn't ever own a car, but now at least sometimes use Uber or Lyft because it's cheap and convenient when otherwise they/we would have used transit, because it used to be our only option. Apparently we're hurting more than you're helping?

[lsc]

Makes sense. I mean, I say that it was totally impractical to not have a car and live in silicon valley before the rise of the ridesharing services; but I know a guy who did it. He had a bicycle and just always lived near work and a grocery store. Come to think of it, he now uses a rideshare service a lot more often than he bummed rides before, so ridesharing has increased his automobile usage. maybe there were just a lot more people like him (and you) than I thought before, people without cars who nonetheless live in cities designed without people like them in mind.

[apendleton]

Yes, I should say: I live in Washington, DC, where not having a car is super doable. I know there are studies here that show this effect, and in NYC where car ownership was already rare it's even more pronounced. Overall I suspect that it's much stronger in these places, or in Boston (the subject of the article) than in SV; these are cities with robust transit systems designed before the advent of the personal car.

[closeparen]

As far as I can tell, the surveys are asking about specific trips. It's true that I substitute ridesharing for public transit for specific trips (therefore contributing to these results), but also true that if ridesharing were banned, I would buy a car.