Replies to post #14982 on The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[biotech_researcher]

Quote:
Probably the most noticeable shift in transport will be the **electric car**.This won’t just be about cars with batteries, but part of the wider trend led by companies including Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. toward transportation as an on-demand service in driverless vehicles summoned from your smartphone...

"I don't see why the growth of Uber and Lyft, per se, will reduce oil consumption if such growth does not reduce the aggregate number of vehicle miles driven."

It will be electric, so oil consumption will fall. The internal combustion engine drastically reduced the need for horse and buggy in a step function. The electric auto will indeed be as disruptive but at a slower pace.

[biocqr]

I don't see why the growth of Uber and Lyft, per se, will reduce oil consumption if such growth does not reduce the aggregate number of vehicle miles driven.

I'll take a stab...

on-demand = less car ownership/higher utilization
less car ownership/higher utilization = fewer cars on road
fewer cars = fewer traffic jams
fewer traffic jams = higher fuel economy/efficiency
higher fuel economy = less oil demand