You’re all dolled up, glamorous, and looking fresh to work. But, before you even know it, it would seem you’re already stressed out from work the minute you face the heavy traffic on the road.
According to this study published in ScienceDirect, “longer commutes may be related to higher levels of stress and fatigue of workers,” which, worse, affect the quality of time parents give to their children.
Is there a compromise? The answer could be Uber.
From NYC to Dallas
The world’s biggest ridesharing company recently launched Route Share, a feature in which shuttles will travel dozens of fixed routes, with fixed stops, to pick up passengers and drop them off at fixed times. Think of this as sharing an Uber car with a stranger, except that it’s meant to make commuting during peak hours way easier.
Reports from ridesharing media stated that this program – which rolled out in seven cities at the end of last month: New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, and Baltimore – will bring cheaper and more predictable transportation during rush hours.
Sachin Kansal, the chief product officer of Uber, told the media after the announcement, “Many of our users, they live in generally the same area, they work in generally the same area, and they commute at the same time. The concept of Route Share is not new.”
His analogy is that they are not “buses,” but horse-drawn buggies, rickshaws, and pedicabs” appearing onscreen.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is optimistic about this. He told the media that the entire thing is “to some extent inspired by the bus,” with the goal of “reducing prices to the consumer” and “helping with congestion and the environment.” He truly has a point.
Worse bus?
However, not everybody agrees with the new project. One of them is Kevin Shen, a person studying this initiative at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Shen questions whether this Uber bus can really help commuters, the climate, or both.
“Everybody will say, ‘Silicon Valley’s reinventing the bus again,’” Shen stated . “But it’s more like they’re reinventing a worse bus.”
That’s daring, but hurtful? He is concerned about what this means for the transit systems of those seven key cities, as well as the people who rely upon them.
“Transit is a public service, so a transit agency’s goal is to serve all of its customers, whether they’re rich or poor, whether it’s the maximum profit-inducing route or not,” Shen added.
Further analyzing this, Shen said entities that do those must be accountable: the boards, the public meetings, and the vocal riders. This ensures they really do their job.
“Barely any of that is in place for Uber.” This, he is adding, is a pivot toward a public-transit model without public accountability.
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