[mikepurvis]

But "lessens the need" is very different from "actually fewer cars", a point the article makes upfront. Until there's data showing otherwise, I can fully believe the premise of the article that Uber has stolen more modeshare from cycling and real mass transit than it has from private vehicle use. That is, there just aren't that many people who either got rid of a private vehicle in order to embrace ridesharing, or are able/willing to leave it at home a significant proportion of the time.

[twblalock]

> That is, there just aren't that many people who either got rid of a private vehicle in order to embrace ridesharing, or are able/willing to leave it at home a significant proportion of the time.

I also have this suspicion. I'd like to see some numbers on it. In my experience, most of the people I know who live in San Francisco own cars but frequently take Ubers to avoid dealing with parking at their destination, to go out drinking, etc.

Downtown San Francisco is one of those places where driving your own car and paying for parking can cost more than taking an Uber.

[bobthepanda]

Ridesharing solves one particular use case - some trip where either parking is too expensive, too much of a hassle, or both. It's great for quick trips into town or to the bar or to the airport. For pretty much every other use case, it is either too expensive, too inconvenient, or both. No one is about to sell their car for ridesharing if they need to ferry around their kid for extracurriculars, or go to the Costco and pick up lots of bulky items, or want to go skiing on the weekend; you need more drastic interventions for that, like reducing the availability or convenience of parking.

[taneq]

> I can fully believe the premise of the article that Uber has stolen more modeshare from cycling and real mass transit than it has from private vehicle use

All this shows is that people would rather climb into a stranger's car, pay them and hope for the best than use actual public transport.

[jopsen]

Or that SF public transit is just appalling... For me it's only 25% faster than walking.

In European cities this is less of a problem. Maybe ride-sharing will reduce car ownership enough that you can one day invest in public transit.