With Thanksgiving here, it’s the time of year to count your blessings and reflect on the things for which you’re truly grateful. In the spirit of the season, here are five reasons we’re thankful for shared mobility:
1. It’s good for the environment. Services like bikesharing and carsharing help take cars off the road and result in fewer vehicle miles traveled – and fewer greenhouse gasses discharged into the atmosphere. In fact, every shared mode, from ridesourcing to microtransit, does its part to encourage car-free, environmentally friendly living and deserves to be celebrated!
2. It helps reduce congestion. No one likes sitting in traffic. Shared mobility reduces the need for vehicle ownership, encourages greater use of public transit by offering first/last mile connections and helps facilitate real-time ridesharing thanks to services such as Lyft Line, UberPOOL and Bridj.
3. It encourages a healthier way of life. Articles abound about the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle. By becoming less reliant on cars to get from point A to point B, people are more likely to walk, ride the train – or use bikeshare – to get where they need to go.
4. Shared mobility makes it easier to go carless. Cars are expensive. With gas and maintenance, the average cost of owning a car is more than $9,000 per year. Services like carsharing and ridesourcing allow you to have access to personal transportation when you need it, but mean you’re not paying for a car when it’s sitting in your driveway or on the street.
5. It’s interesting! There’s never a dull moment when it comes to the evolving shared mobility industry. It seems as though there’s a new development every day, from the launch of new bikesharing tech to paratransit pilots.
Finally, at SUMC we are thankful we had such a wonderful first year and for all the support from our friends, colleagues and partners. Special thanks to all those who attended our Move Together national shared mobility summit earlier this fall, and to all those working to improve mobility day in and day out!
Is there a reason that you’re thankful for shared mobility? If so let us know.
-SUMC Staff
