The True Cost Of Ride-Sharing Services

Table of Contents

Introduction

Driving your own car is expensive. The average American household spends 55{a5ecc776959f091c949c169bc862f9277bcf9d85da7cccd96cab34960af80885} more on transportation than they did in 1960, according to a report by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. And according to research conducted by Stanford University and published in Science Magazine, each additional car owned by an individual can lead to an extra $5,000 per year in costs. While ride-sharing services like Uber, Lyft and others may seem like an obvious solution for cutting costs, they’re not as cost-effective as they might seem on their face value—especially when you consider the true cost of owning a vehicle.

Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing services might be more cost-effective than buying a car.

Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft could be more cost-effective than buying a car.

Ride-sharing is growing in popularity and there are many reasons why it’s gaining traction as an alternative to owning your own vehicle. In addition to saving money on gas and insurance, ride-sharing can also save time by eliminating the need for driving yourself around town or finding parking spaces when you arrive at your destination.

Rideshare services will encourage people to get rid of their cars.

Ride-sharing services are cheaper, faster and more convenient than owning a car. They’re also greener and safer.

Rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber have made it easy for you to get around town without having to deal with the hassles of owning a vehicle–you just hop in a driver’s car! But what does it cost to use these services?

The average household spends 55{a5ecc776959f091c949c169bc862f9277bcf9d85da7cccd96cab34960af80885} more on transportation than they did in 1960.

The average household spends 55{a5ecc776959f091c949c169bc862f9277bcf9d85da7cccd96cab34960af80885} more on transportation than they did in 1960. And the costs of running a car have increased: gas, maintenance and insurance make up 75{a5ecc776959f091c949c169bc862f9277bcf9d85da7cccd96cab34960af80885} of the average household’s transportation budget. But when you look at it this way–as an investment–you can see why ride-sharing services are so popular. A monthly Uber subscription is about $100 per month for unlimited rides (or about half what people pay for cable TV), but it saves you from paying for gas or maintaining your own car; if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere where there’s public transit available, that could save even more money!

Ridesharing can improve individual car ownership rates by lowering costs for users and increasing the availability of cars for short-term rental.

Ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft have been around since 2009, but they’ve only recently become popular in cities across the United States. These companies provide an alternative to public transportation by offering ride-hailing apps that allow customers to request a ride from their smartphones, with no need to hail a taxi or wait at bus stops–and often at lower prices than traditional taxis charge. According to a study conducted by NYU’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management, Uber and Lyft were responsible for 58 percent more miles traveled by taxi cabs in New York City between 2014 and 2016; this increase was accompanied by a reduction of 20 percent in traffic congestion during peak rush hours due to fewer cars on roads (although some argue that these reductions could also be due in part because fewer people took public transit).

A key factor driving this shift toward rideshare services has been cost savings: according to The Economist , “In San Francisco…a typical cab ride costs $5-$7 per mile; riding with Lyft costs just $2-$3.”

Ride-sharing services are less expensive than owning a vehicle, but may not be as cost-effective as they appear on their face value.

While ride-sharing services can be less expensive than owning a vehicle, they may not be as cost-effective as they appear on their face value.

Ride-sharing services are often touted as the cheaper alternative to owning a car and driving yourself around town. However, there are some hidden costs that may make you reconsider whether or not this is actually true.

First of all, while the cost of each ride may be lower than what it would cost for you to own and operate your own vehicle (including insurance), there’s still an expense associated with taking public transportation or walking everywhere: time! You have to factor in how much time it takes for both yourself and whoever else might be joining you on these trips (if applicable). If we assume that two people are traveling together from point A to point B via UberX (a service offering rides at $2/mile), then each person’s share would come out at $1 per mile traveled–or $2 total if they were going alone. This means each person would save about $0.50 by avoiding driving themselves around town; however, if we add up all those trips over time then we’ll see that overall savings are actually quite small–$10 per month max if one drives 10 miles each day compared with using UberX instead.”

Conclusion

Ride-sharing services are still a relatively new technology, and they need to work out some kinks before they can be considered a viable alternative to car ownership. However, there are signs that this is happening–and soon. In San Francisco alone, Uber has nearly doubled its ridership over the past year while Lyft has tripled its trips since 2013.