Before Covid struck, ride-hail companies embraced shared trips with gusto. As mounting evidence suggested that individual Uber and Lyft trips worsen traffic congestion, pooled service seemed to offer a more city-friendly product. “We think the transformation of car ownership toward carpooling is going to be tremendously beneficial for cities, for the environment,” an Uber executive told The Vergein 2018.
With UberPool and Lyft Line, ride-hail users could get a discount if they agreed to split their trip with a stranger or two. Autonomous vehicle companies also capitalized on sharing’s feel-good appeal. The Cruise Origin, a fully autonomous car set to begin production in 2022 from GM’s Cruise subsidiary, was designed to be shared: Up to six passengers face one another in two sets of seats inside a futuristic driverless pod, like riders in a high-tech stagecoach.
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