Building H Index
Uber
INDUSTRY
transportation
Category
mobility services
products Profiled
Uber mobility services
H-Score
55
ranked 7th of 7 within transportation industry
ranked 15th (tie) of 37 overall
product descriptions
Rideshare: Uber is best known for its original product, its rideshare or ride hailing service, in which users can hail a ride through Uber’s app and an independent driver will arrive and drive the user to the intended destination. Uber offers the service at multiple levels, including different types of vehicles, and a mode (UberX Share) where you can choose to ride with other passengers.
Bikeshare: Uber offers access, through its app, to Lime’s dockless bikeshare program in selected cities.
Scooters: As with bikeshare services, Uber offers access, through its app, to Lime’s dockless scooter program in selected cities.
Car Rentals: Uber is currently offering access, through rental agency partners, to short-term car rentals through the app.
product usage
Overall: Users launch Uber with a smartphone app that offers the choice of “Ride,” “Food,” and other services (e.g. car rental, grocery delivery). Choosing “Ride” launches a screen for the user to enter a destination and select the type of ride service.
Rideshare: Uber offers door-to-door car service. A user types a destination into their phone and a driver shows up with a car to take the user directly to that destination. To the extent that the driver and the passenger interact, use of the service creates some amount of social interaction, which might be significantly greater in the case of Uber Pool. Both drivers and passengers rate each other, creating a reputation for each based on a 5-point star system, which influences future decisions to accept drivers and passengers and should motivate courteous behavior, which may include social banter.
Bikeshare: Using the main screen of Uber’s app, bicycling -- with electric bikes -- is offered as an alternative to ride hailing for any destination in cities where bikeshare service is available. After selecting the bike option, the user walks to the location of the bike, then cycles to their desired destination.
Scooters: Using a scooter works the same way as reserving a bike.
Car rentals: Users select the “rent” option in the app and can reserve rental cars through agencies such as Hertz and Avis.
Uber’s services are offered on a pay-as-you-go basis, although Uber also offers a subscription service, Uber One, that provides discounted rides, priority access to top-rated drivers, and waived delivery fees for certain food and grocery orders.(1)
influence on health-related behaviors
EATING
neutral to slight positive influence
While the overall impact of Uber’s mobility services(2) on eating is generally neutral, to the extent that Uber provides greater access to obtaining groceries for people without private cars, those services could have a positive impact on eating.
- Subsidize trips to grocery stores or fresh food markets.
PHYSICAL ACTVITY
slight negative influence
Uber’s rideshare service offers a remarkably frictionless experience and makes hailing a ride -- for trips of any distance -- fast and convenient. As such it displaces more active modes of transportation, namely walking, bicycling, scootering or even using public transportation, which often involves walking and standing. Building H’s consumer research(3) showed that approximately 25% of rideshare trips displaced walking, biking or using public transportation, consistent with another study on that question.(4)
A positive effect of this convenient experience is the impact Uber has on reducing the need for private car ownership. Owners of private cars have been shown to be less likely to substitute active modes of transportation for short trips than people who do not own their own vehicles. Data from Lyft suggests that 45% of their riders do not own or lease personal vehicles, which would likely be the case for Uber’s riders as well.(5) Note, however, that Building H’s consumer research shows a much smaller impact on personal vehicle ownership, with nearly 78% of rideshare users indicating that they continued to own personal vehicles.(6)
Uber offers access to Lime e-bikes and scooters, which involve more physical activity than being driven, but it does not feature these options prominently, and thus the access is not likely to have much positive effect on physical activity. Building H’s consumer research showed that only approximately 4% of rideshare users used shared bikes and 5% used shared scooters at least monthly.(7)
- Expand availability of bike and scooter services and use the platform to nudge, recommend or otherwise preferencing bike and scooter use in appropriate circumstances (e.g. based on distance, weather, safety) and taking into account individual abilities. Examples include increasing rates for shorter trips and prompting users to consider more active modes for short trips.
- Integrate walking and public transit directions into the service.
Sleeping
neutral to slight positive influence
Uber’s impact on sleep is indirect. To the extent that use of Uber’s services results in a net reduction in physical activity and a net reduction in outdoor time (see below), those behaviors are associated with reduced sleep.
On the positive side, if Uber’s services save time, they could conceivably free up time for more sleep.(8) Reductions in daily travel time have been correlated with more sleep time.(9)
Engaging Socially
slight to moderate positive influence
Uber’s primary rideshare service results in varied interactions between driver and passenger, ranging from total silence to engaging conversation. The mutual rating system creates incentives for positive interactions. UberX Share creates even more opportunity for casual interaction, subject to the same caveat -- passengers can choose not to interact with one another. Building H’s consumer research has shown that more than 63% of rideshare users (not specific to Uber) describe their social interactions with drivers and other riders as positive or very positive. (Only 11% described these interactions as negative or very negative.)(10)
The increased transportation access made possible by Uber can also reduce social isolation of people who would otherwise have limited access to transportation. A study of seniors with chronic disease who were given access to Lyft reported less social isolation and greater quality of life.(11)
- Explore conversation prompts or other ways to instigate conversation among drivers and riders (and among riders in UberX Share rides), subject to opt out options for those who would prefer quiet rides.
- Give preference to UberX Share rides in the platform.
- Experiment with creating opportunities to match “favorite” riders or drivers to promote ongoing relationships.
Getting Outdoors
neutral influence
Uber’s access to bike and scooter services certainly supports being outdoors -- and to the extent that these services substitute for car rides, they have a positive influence.
Uber’s rideshare service, however, by offering a convenient alternative to walking, biking, or scootering (or even walking to a bus or train), reduces time spent outside, and far more of its users choose rideshare over bike and scooter trips.
- Promote discounted rides to outdoor destinations such as public parks.
- Pursuing opportunities noted above to give preference to walking, biking, scootering or use of public transit could also lead to more outdoor time.
Notes
Uber. Uber Introduces Uber One: A New Membership Program Bringing Together the Best of Uber. Uber Investor website. November 17, 2021
Uber Eats is profiled separately.
Steve Downs. A Survey of Modern Life: Mobility. Building H on Medium. January 12, 2022
One study has indicated that 15-28% of rideshare trips displaced walking, biking or use of public transit. Union of Concerned Scientists. Ride-Hailing’s Climate Risks. February 2020
Lyft. Lyft Economic Impact Report 2021. p. 20.
Downs (2022)
Downs (2022)
Lyft has reported that its riders have saved 135 million hours compared to other travel modem although it is not clear what the average daily time saving is for each rider. We do not have access to comparable data from Uber. See Lyft. Lyft Economic Impact Report 2021. p. 19.
Mathias Basner et al. American Time Use Survey: Sleep Time and Its Relationship to Waking Activities. Sleep, Volume 30, Issue 9, September 2007, pp. 1085–1095.
Downs (2022)
Leslie Saxon et al. Health Impacts of Unlimited Access to Networked Transportation in Older Adults. The Journal of mHealth, August 13, 2019