3 votes

How ride-hail companies can help, not hurt, cities

1 comment

  1. Micycle_the_Bichael
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    I think this is a very interesting and honestly super smart proposal. There are a lot of people who don't take the commuter rail from the suburbs into the city where I live because the parking...

    Smaller cities and suburbs might be an even bigger opportunity. Can you set up shared rides suburbanites will actually use to get to commuter rail instead of driving two miles and parking? Working with multiple smaller governments takes time, but communities not dense enough for quality traditional public transit are a real opportunity, and so are places dominated by a large institutions, such as college towns that are faced with growing populations and limited parking. You are doing some of this. Making it sustainable is really hard. Don’t stop trying!

    I think this is a very interesting and honestly super smart proposal. There are a lot of people who don't take the commuter rail from the suburbs into the city where I live because the parking lots at the stations fill up so quickly so people just drive rather than try to figure out a place to park to take the train.

    One way is to get serious about double-parked cars. You should direct your drivers to stop where they won’t double-park, such as in a loading zone. Where there aren’t enough loading zones, partner with cities to create more, and establish robust monitoring and incentives to ensure your vehicles use them.

    This is another huge problem. Double-parked cars that block lanes of traffic are one of the biggest issues I personally think transit faces because it effectively ruins safety and efficiency fixes for public transit. My city is in the process of adding lots of bike and bus lanes, but these are useless when people double park in bus lanes stopping the buses from being able to use them, or when drivers park in front of bus stops. This isn't only ride sharing apps, this is also with food delivery apps like grubhub (though Uber still has a hand in both those scenarios...)

    I'm under no illusion that the suggestions in this article are hopeful at best and would require Uber or Lyft to actually be invested in something other than making a profit. I don't necessarily think these are going to come to fruition, but I thought they were some genuinely interesting suggestions for how ride sharing apps could continue to grow while also helping the communities they exist around.

    4 votes