It takes a hell lot of of confidence to tell residents of Delhi, “Hey, don’t drive for a month.”
Like… in a city where traffic is basically a kundli trait and “bas do minute mein pahunch raha hoon” translates to 45 minutes, that’s a bold ask.
But that is exactly what Uber is intending with its innovative “One Less Car” campaign that is being executed in partnership with Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC). The plan? To convince 25 residents of Delhi NCR to park their vehicles for a month and see how their lives would change as a result of using public transportation, walking, and, of course, Uber.
Do not assume that this is merely a publicity hoopla with an attractive hashtag; here’s everything you need to know about it.
So… what’s the deal?
Uber and YLAC are looking for 25 car owners in Delhi NCR who are willing to give up their cars for the month of August. The challenge is simple and brings a fascinating element of curiosity to it; the participants cannot use their cars for a month.
Participating individuals will travel automatically through any public transportation method, be it the metro, bus, taxi, cycling, foot or hailing a cab.
And before you begin to worry about the charges, Uber mentions that certain participants will receive a transport assistance package to pay for all the commuting expenses.
So basically, your car would be parked for a month while you discover how public transport in Delhi works.
Wait a second… Is Uber really telling people not to drive?
As ironic as this may sound, yes.
The campaign does not call for people to stop taking their cars altogether. Rather, Uber encourages people to use a mix of different types of transportation from time to time.
For example, take the metro for long distances, taxis for the last mile, buses if you want something different, walking if Google Maps shows only “5 minutes” (when it’s actually never 5 minutes) and using Uber only when you absolutely need to.
This is called multimodal mobility.
This isn’t Uber’s first “trust me, leave your car at home” moment
Uber has been trying various iterations of this scheme for quite some time. For instance, in 2018, during the pollution crisis in Delhi, Uber came up with Swap Your Ride, where people were encouraged to leave behind their cars in exchange for Uber credits and benefits from the Delhi Metro.
In 2019, during the Odd-Even phase, Uber tried another initiative called #LeaveYourCarBehind. It pushed ride-sharing as well as Uber Auto and metro services to mitigate congestion and pollution.
On a global scale, Uber similarly launched the One Less Car initiative in the car-centric cities of the US and Canada, where participants were instructed to not use their cars for weeks while researchers monitored the changes in their commuting habits.
Thus, this idea is not exactly out of the blue.
The interesting revelation is that people actually complied with it successfully. YEAH.
In fact, according to the results of the earlier One Less Car campaigns, people stopped using their personal cars altogether during the experiment, as 97% of the respondents reported no car usage.
Approximately 75% disclosed that they intended to drive less even after the experiment was over while 70% said they would like to use public transport and other means of transportation to a greater extent.
More interestingly enough, approximately 20% stated that they might even give up the ownership of a private car.
YAAAA QUEEEN!
Evidently, people learned something important after successfully completing two weeks of life without cars.
It is personal advancement, but rather in the field of city planning.
Why Delhi, though?
Because if any city is capable of making traffic jams in the city an Olympic event, it is definitely Delhi.
Delhi has one of the most developed metro systems in the world, yet it still struggles with traffic jams, pollution and constantly increasing amount of private cars.
So this is where things get exciting.
Rather than asking everyone to sell their cars (calm down), Uber is testing a much smaller question:
What happens if people simply stop using them for a month?
Do they discover easier alternatives? Do they miss driving every day? Or do they realise the Metro has been carrying the city on its back all along?
There are still a few unanswered questions
For all the details Uber has shared, a few things remain under wraps.
The company hasn’t revealed:
- how much the transport support package is worth,
- how the final 25 participants will be selected,
- whether they’ll have to document their commuting experience,
- or if the findings from the Delhi experiment will eventually be published.
This honestly makes us even more curious to see how this plays out.
We’re sure this is an experiment worth watching.
Or better yet, participating in. Because if nothing else, your car might finally get the vacation it deserves.
Toodlesss.