A study by a transportation consultant in Seattle claims that private hire companies like Uber and Lyft add to traffic instead of reducing.

Done by Bruce Schaller with the help of data from the Seattle Department of Transportation, he found out that an additional 151 million kilometres were driven on their roads last year, rebutting the belief that these ride-hailing applications encourage people to drive less.

Schaller explained that thanks to the convenience of these services, people who would usually walk, take the bus, or stay at home are now attracted to the applications and have contributed to the 20 million plus rides taken in 2017.

To make matters worse, The Seattle Times reported that only 40% of Uber and Lyft users would have driven or taken a taxi if the service wasn’t available. The remaining users would have turned to other forms of transport.

As such, Schaller feels that cities who don't manages these companies might face increased traffic congestion, affecting the cities' economic and social well-being.