Uber will pay you to leave your car in the garage

The Future. Uber wants you to ditch your car for five weeks (in exchange for credits) to try out other forms of travel and to pay you for a taste of a car-lite life. While the trial may not spur most people to turn in their vehicles, it could give Uber important data on how to build its operations more efficiently into existing public transit.

Rideshare lottery
After a test in Australia, Uber is launching its One Less Car initiative in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, DC.

• The trial, which will take place from July 22nd to August 25th, offers 175 participants $1,000 in exchange for their keys — the average monthly cost of owning a car in the US.
• The stipend is broken down into $500 on the Uber app for car trips or Lime bike and scooter share; a $200 voucher redeemable for car rental or carshare; and $300 to use on alternative transportation like public transit.
• Participants will also get a free month of membership to Uber One, which gives them 6% cash back on rides and $0 fees on eligible food and grocery deliveries.

Uber is hoping to gather more data on how people move around when they don’t have a personal vehicle and incentivize them to switch to the company’s growing transportation ecosystem.

During the trial in Australia, people reported spending more time walking, biking, and using public transit… but only three of the 58 participants said they would go so far as selling their car and using only alternative ways of moving around. People still like having a car as a backup.