Ride-Sharing Controversy

Three quarters of emissions in 2004 were coming from road traffic (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). Emissions used from transportation are forecasted to increase from the year 2007-2030 by about 80% according to studies done by James Woodcock who is currently studying climate change and health from car fuels (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). This is due to the fact that the emissions from vehicles are increasing significantly and are higher than any other energy fragment (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). The only way to lower this percentage is to decrease the number of individual automobiles on the road and increase the number of public transit systems, starting long distance walking to work or school, carpooling or even biking to destinations. These principles would

“It’s a simple experience and a much more pleasant way to get a ride than stepping onto a busy street and waving at oncoming traffic” (Stone, 2014, p. 53). It is convenient for both the employee and customer to arrange a ride, which makes Uber preferable. Additionally, the employees of Uber are given more benefits than the employees of taxi companies. For example, Uber issues an iPhone with the Uber software, free gear to secure it to their windshield and an hour of orientation (Stone, 2014, p. 52). It is this simplicity that appeals to people seeking employment. They are also using a platform that is accessible to many of their customers, because, as of 2015, “64% of American adults now own a smartphone of some kind” (Smith, 2015). Since their focus is on luxury, innovation, and results, they have transformed the public transportation system in their favor.

One of Lyfts’ differentiating factor is it prides itself on possessing the most social experience there is for a rideshare company. As the American population continues to become more educated, their consumer behavior has shifted to where they are more conscious of corporation impacts to the environment they live in or hope their children will reside in. Lyft through the ridesharing platform where ridesharing can be argued reduces greenhouse gas via reducing car densities on the road, they can capitalize on it and target more environment conscious customers. Furthermore, Lyft can continue to strengthen their commitment to contributing to reduce negative environment impacts pertaining to cars and court the next generation of customers after the millennials, generation Z which are expected to continue to become more educated and environment conscious.

Public transportation provides numerous positive attributes to the community at large. It enhances personal opportunities by providing personal mobility and freedom, gives people transportation options to get to work, go to school, visit friends, or go to a doctor’s office, provides access to job opportunities. It saves fuel and reduces congestion, provides economic opportunities and drives community growth and revitalization. Statistically, every $1 invested in public transportation generates approximately $4 in economic returns, every $10 million in capital investment in public transportation yields $30 million in increased business sales, every $10 million in operating investment yields $32 million in increased business sales, and from 2006-2011, residential property values performed 42 percent better on average if they were located near public transportation with high-frequency service. Public transportation saves money and reduces gasoline consumption. According to APTA’s transit saving report, a two-person household can save, on the average, more than $10,174 a year by downsizing to one car. Public transportation use in the United States saves 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline annually and households near public transit drive an average of 4,400 fewer miles than households with no access to public transit. Public transportation also reduces the carbon footprint in that its use

New York City has unique benefits in that there are tremendous amounts of people who live within close proximity to each other. This has resulted in higher uses of mass transit systems (such as: subways and buses). On average, New York’s total environmental footprint is 7.1 metrics tons per person annually. This is much lower than national average of 24.5 metric tons. The city contributes 1% of the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere for the United States each year. (“Inventory Greenhouse of New York City,” 2007) (Jarvey, 2006)

I watched this TedTalk on 6/16/2016, and the name of that TedTalk is Uber’s plan to get more people into fewer cars. The video was filmed on February 2016, and the speaker is Travis Kalanick, the co-founder of the peer-to-peer file sharing company Red Swoosh and the transportation network company Uber. The purpose of this memo is to understand the goal that Uber is trying to achieve.

Though there are alternate means of transportation such as carpools, buses, or simply walking, these alternatives can be just as problematic as cars themselves. With carpools, we still run the risk of drivers that are not paying full attention to the road because they are paying more attention to the members of their carpool. Though with the intent of conserving gas, carpools will still pollute our fresh air with the harsh chemicals found in gas. Buses are more or less a large- scale carpool. Buses may seem to promote mass transportation of people, they are very costly because drivers must be paid and money must be spent on gas. Not to mention that buses can be extremely dirty, whereas the pods are self sanitized.

Watching “SpongeBob SquarePants” as a child made me realize that owning a vehicle is vital in order to get our desire destinations safely and punctual. There were numerous occasions where I found myself dependent on others. Though there are countless of bus stops I can use for transportation, I am not comfortable riding in one. Walking is another type transportation I took for school and work. However, a rainy day impedes a travel by foot. Additionally, riding my bicycle was another way I got around. My errands require extensive transportation on a daily basis. I did not want to be a burden any further. Luckily, I discovered Uber. I am pleased and relieved that I have discovered a reliable way to get to my destinations at a reasonable price.

An issue that is hotly debated is should UberX be allowed in Toronto. Some think that yes, UberX should be allowed in Toronto but others think that it should not be allowed. Yes I know UberX has been legalized, but this argument is fighting against the legalization. It is clear that overall UberX should not be allowed in Toronto. More Toronto citizens are disregarding UberX. People have realized that though the rates may be low the risk of something happening is high, because UberX’s drivers are untrained and background checks are limited. Although UberX’s rates may be low, the can spike up in times of high demand. During storms and rush hour the fair can double, even triple in cost. The finally reason is that the low rates are unfair to other cab companies, because other cab companies actually hire people as a job, UberX is just for people who want to make extra money.

Being able to call a cab using an app on your phone sounds great, but there are many impacts on the cities they exist in. Nicole Gelinas argues in her article “Better Mass Transit Is the Real Solution to Congestion,” that Uber causes more problems that New York City hopes to solve. Uber is a company that employs their own workers to act as a taxi service for people that use their app. Using your phone you can hire a cab driver to pick you up at your current location. Although this may be convenient for many people, it actually causes a lot more traffic in New York City which they are trying to reduce while improving mass transit.

Austin recently had a highly publicized fight with ride sharing companies Lyft and Uber. The ride start up sourcing super powers; exhibited uncharacteristic coadjuvancy, by aligning in solidarity against the tyrannical will of the Citizens of “old Austin.” Unfortunately, in this case Uber and Lyft were slain by the Goliath that is Texas’s fourth biggest city and historic liberal haven.

State officials claim that the company has not been providing appropriate levels of screening for its drivers. For example, taxi drivers are required to undergo fingerprinting as well as a very rigorous background check. Lawmakers in the LA area are attempting to decide if Uber drivers should be allowed access to Los Angeles International Airport. D.A’s in both LA and San Francisco claim that more than 25 Uber drivers have been identified as having convictions on their record that could indicate that they are a danger on the job: murder, assault, DUI, etc. In response, a consumer protection lawsuit has been filed against Uber by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón and Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie

Transportation is the number one thing we consumers do that harms the environment. Transportation causes the highest amount of environmental damage overall - nearly half of the toxic air pollution and more than a quarter of the greenhouse gases traceable to household consumption. Over time, however, sales of trucks, vans and SUV's went from 16% market share to over 50%. One big auto manufacturer even shelved their work of the last three years, spent updating their most popular selling economy car, so they could spend the money getting SUVs to market faster.

Uber is an innovative company that operates as a transportation company and a food delivery service around the globe. In addition, Uber is a company that was invented five years ago. Furthermore, during Uber’s early stages of development, the servicing company was referred to as “UberCAb”. Then an individual in San Francisco had decided to try out their service. From the individual’s first experience, the individual was very impressed. In addition, from that point, the company referred to as “UberCab” became commonly known as Uber. Also, Uber operates their service business in fifty eight different countries and have allocated over $60 billion in revenue. Uber faces many issues in their human resources operations implementation regarding drivers and internal employees.

Being lazy is a great thing because so much time is saved. Time may be saved, but in exchange, the environment gets destroyed instead. Driving a car to work may be faster, but it also destroys the environment so much faster. Biking to the store serves the same purpose and it saves the environment greatly. Cars are a huge contributor to global warming. Cars and trucks combined are responsible for one-fifth of all US emissions. They release about 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases for every gallon of gas used (Union of Concerned Scientists). About five pounds of those gases come from production, extraction, and delivery of gasoline. More than 19 pounds are released per gallon from a car's tailpipe (Union of Concerned Scientists). 1.2 billion cubic yards of polluted air is from manufacture. Painting and coating cars produces 40 million pounds of air releases and 24 million pounds of hazardous waste a year. A car's lifetime produces 1.3 billion cubic yard of polluted air and scatters 40 pounds of worn tire particles, brake debris, and worn road surface into the atmosphere (Bike to Work Day). Pollutants released a year add up to over 12,140 lbs for cars and 17,000 for light trucks. Some of those pollutants are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides (Bike to Work Day). By choosing to bike or walk instead of drive, the amount of gases and waste contributing to global warming, drops drastically. Choosing to drive instead of taking a greener form of transportation is a great threat to the environment.