Uber will pay you $1,300 a month to use its services
Uber is offering 50 Aussies the chance to participate in a social experiment.
Uber is challenging 50 Aussies to give up the use of their car, and use its rideshare features instead.
Uber said the average cost of owning a car in an Aussie household was $19,000 a year - despite cars sitting idle most of the time.
More than two in three Australians surveyed were concerned about the cost of car ownership, which led Uber to launch this social experiment.
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To test the hypothesis - that living a ‘car light’ lifestyle had multiple sustainable, financial and well-being benefits - Uber launched a social trial calling on 50 Australians to give up their car or second car for four weeks.
The One Less Car experiment will monitor participants’ experiences to test and analyse the advantages and disadvantages of forgoing a car.
Throughout the trial, participants will be incentivised with more than $1,300 in transport credits to use on alternative modes of transport, and fitted out with personal health trackers to measure health and well-being impacts.
Despite Australia’s love affair with the private car, only two in five metro Australians surveyed were considering personally purchasing another car in the next two years, Uber said.
This comes as more than half of metro Australians surveyed (51 per cent) expressed their concerns for their neighbour’s reliance on their private car.
Uber ANZ general manager Dom Taylor outlined the critical challenge that lay ahead for Australia’s over reliance on the private car.
“It’s a conundrum for many Australians living in metro areas. Our research finds over half of Aussies enjoy the convenience of owning a car, but the same number want to see others reduce their reliance on their private car,” Taylor said.
“We believe the solution lies in providing people with more choice when it comes to transport options. Our main objective with this trial is to raise awareness of those options and provide a blueprint for urban planners to bring it to life.”
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