Uber Carshare, innovation and the sharing economy
Uber Carshare, the sharing economy and the tech world more broadly have come a long way since we launched in 2012!
On Christmas Eve 2012 the first ever Uber Carshare trip was taken. Along the way we’ve celebrated a few milestones, like two years in operation, our 100,000th trip, the launch of our app, and our 5th birthday in 2017. Now our fleet of local cars, vans and utes has grown to over 1,800 and more than 100,000 members have taken over 220,000 trips.
Why we do it
At the core of everything we do is our mission. We want to free people and the planet from the ‘one person, one car’ mentality. This will help us to reduce waste and make a dent in the carbon emissions we’re producing. This is why Uber Carshare was started and why we keep working hard to bring neighbour-to-neighbour car-sharing to more people across Australia - even though we’re still not making a profit.
As well as helping the planet, we want to help people save money by reducing their personal transport costs and build connected communities.
The sharing economy
Car-sharing has exploded in recent years, but it’s not a new thing. Car-sharing, and peer-to-peer car-sharing, has been around for nearly 20 years. The sharing economy in general has also had a huge growth in popularity - you can now use nearly anything without needing to own it.
The future of transport
Driverless cars, car-light cities, hovercraft and flying cars: new technologies are set to change the way we travel in a big way. It might seem a little far-fetched – like something from a science fiction movie – but we’re already starting to see some of these changes now. Driverless, on-demand cars are already driving around Phoenix, and many cities around the world and changing their infrastructure and policies to embrace a car-light future.
Even the rise of car-sharing is a step towards this transport revolution. More people are turning their backs on car ownership and opting for alternative modes of transport wherever possible. This is a move away from the norm of every adult owning one car and using it to get everywhere. As technology has evolved to allow for the instant booking and sharing of cars, car-sharing as surged in popularity.
Peer-to-peer car-sharing is a first step in changing the way we think about travel. What will be next?
