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Ride-hailing Apps are causing mass congestion in major cities around the world

Perry Richardson

A number of surveys undertaken across America have confirmed what most of us have been saying for a while now; "since the arrival of ride-hailing apps, the traffic in our cities has gotten worse " Professor of computer science at Boston's Northeastern University, Christo Wilson, took the time to take a closer look at the issue. In a report published in the Denver Post she said "The emerging consensus is that ride-sharing (is) increasing congestion " A survey taken in Boston late last year 2017, found that 6 in 10 people who took an Uber would have normally taken public transport, walked or biked if the ride-hailing app was not available. In 2015, then CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick said; "we envision a world where there's no more traffic in Boston in five years". The claims were that many people would use services such as Uber and Lyft to connect between other modes of transport like the underground or overground, but instead it seems people are now missing those other modes of transport out entirely. A survey that was released in June 2017, taken in San Francisco showed that on a typical weekday, ride-hailing drivers would make around 12 times more trips than a taxi would. The figure was at a staggering 170,000 trips per day.

I know that in my city of London, England, the congestion is at it's worst for as far back as I can remember. Every other vehicle seems to have a private hire roundel on it's front and rear windows, and although this doesn't necessarily mean they are working on a ride-hailing app, the general consensus is that the majority do. London is bursting at the seams, how much longer it can continue to licence more and more vehicles is anyone's guess, but it's clear that licensing authorities across the globe need to get a grip on what's really causing the terrible congestion before an irreversible gridlock ensues. What city do you live in? And have you seen an increase in congestion ever since the emergence of ride-hailing apps? Let us know.  

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