CORRESPONDENCE - 75E (GENERAL COMMENTS)

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2/19/2019 Lyft, Uber increase traffic 180% in major cities - Curbed SF • Ride -hailing trips are concentrated mainly in a few large cities, including SF: "Seventy percent of Uber and Lyft trips are in nine large, densely populated metropolitan areas: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC." These nine cities accounted for 1.2 billion rides in 2017. • Ride -hailing trips are by far more popular in SF than anywhere else: In 2017, Schaller estimates that San Franciscans took 75 million trips via hide -hailing apps. That's not only more than almost any other city, it's also the most in terms of rides per population density, some 86 rides per person. The only city with a higher TNC ride volume is New York, which clocked 159 million; however, New York is also the sole city that still prefers taxis, taking 167 million cab trips the same year. • Critically, Schaller alleges that TNCs compete with public transit, not private cars: "[Rider surveys indicate] about 6o percent of TNC users in large, dense cities would have taken public transportation, walked, biked, or not made the trip if TNCs had not been available for the trip." • The report alleges that Lyft and Uber generate more traffic congestion: "Private -ride TNC services (UberX, Lyft) put 2.8 new TNC vehicle miles on the road for each mile of personal driving removed, for an overall 18o percent increase in driving on city streets." • And TNC expansion won't fix it: The companies often argue that in the long run, if ride - hailing apps become the norm instead of personal driving, it will lead to a net decline in miles. But Schaller estimates that "Lyft's recently announced goal of 50 percent of rides being shared by 2022 would produce 2.2 TNC miles being added to city streets for each personal auto mile taken off the road." • Self -driving cars would be most useful in the form of shuttle -like group commutes: "A widely -cited travel model for Lisbon, Portugal, for example, found that traffic could increase by approximately 50 percent if travelers favored autonomous `regular taxis' that are not shared. On the other hand, the model showed a 37 percent decline in vehicle kilometers, and total elimination of congestion, under a shared -taxi scenario." Presently, TNC rides remain primarily single -passenger trips. For Schaller's full report, including his list of cited sources, check it out here. haps://sf.curbed.com/2018/7/27/17622178/uber-lyk-cause-traffic-streetscongestion-brace-schaller-tnc-report 214