Researchers question the environmental impact of Uber and Lyft

Uber and Lyft have certainly played a key role in how travelers get around in the new "sharing economy," but is there an underlying environmental issue that is being overlooked? According to BetaBoston, one side argues that users can opt for ridesharing services instead of owning their own cars, while the other side counters by saying that Uber-ing comes at the expense of more environmentally friendly options like riding a bike or taking public transportation.

Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Urban Solutions program are planning to review user survey data provided by Uber and Lyft to get a better idea of the environmental impact. They plan to use data from at least two major cities to understand what users would have done if they did not use the service. For example, would they have taken public transportation, walked, biked or hailed a taxi?

Another focus will be on how far the drivers had to travel to pick up a requested ride. Combined with the length of rides and user demographics, experts hope to have a better understanding of how these ride sharing services affect our surroundings.

The MIT Senseable City Lab conducted a similar study on taxi cabs in New York in 2011 and found that as many as 95 percent of taxi rides could have been shared. The researchers examined nearly 150 million taxi rides from more than 13,000 drivers and found that shared rides could have cut time on the road by 40 percent, which would also significantly reduce carbon emissions.

We all love a cheap ride, but these studies can certainly provide some Earth-friendly food for thought.