Ride Sharing: Travelers Prefer Access to Ownership

The popularity and success of companies like Lyft, Sidecar and Uber is proof peer-to-peer ride sharing is here to stay. People are jumping on the bandwagon to use their personal vehicle as a taxi for passengers who either can’t afford a car or don’t want to fuss with the responsibilities and costs of owning a car.

For shorter trips, people can access a car-sharing networking and “hail a ride” from the push of an iPhone app. On the opposite side of the spectrum, companies like Getaround or RelayRides allow users to rent their car to strangers when they aren’t using it themselves.

The benefits of ride sharing are innumerable: It’s cost-effective, low-fuss and an eco-friendly way to travel by reducing congestion and pollution.

Travelers prefer the flexibility and low cost of car sharing because vehicles can be used for a short ride, for an hour or for the entire day. The cost of gasoline is included in the ride or rental and, often, car sharing is not limited by office hours. Access to vehicles is easy — they either come to you when you summon them or are easily accessible via public transportation.

As people continue to circumnavigate their way around the globe, we will continue to see the popularity of car sharing, especially in dense, urban areas. This is good news in terms of peaking peoples’ interest in one another and in a shared economy and encouraging those on a budget to get out and explore somewhere new.