The majority of Uber and taxi drivers would be willing to pay extra for a cleaner ride. That’s according to a recent YouGov poll.
It found that more than half (52 percent) of customers in seven European countries would be happy to pay a premium to travel in an electric car. An additional 15-20 cents per km, to be precise. That’s the equivalent of 13 to 17p per kilometre travelled.
Younger users (18-24) are more likely to embrace an additional charge for a zero-emission taxi. Six out of 10 said they’d pay more.
There’s an increasing awareness of Uber’s impact on pollution. In London, 44 percent of the respondents to the online survey said Uber has a negative impact on the air quality in the capital. Similarly, a third of Parisians said Uber is having a negative effect on pollution levels in the city.
Yoann Le Petit, new mobility expert at campaigning group Transport & Environment (T&E), said: “Uber’s customers are wise to its air pollution and are even willing to chip in for a clean ride. Now Uber must do its fair share for the climate and our health. Thus, the #TrueCostOfUber campaign urges the company to electrify its fleet in its 10 biggest European cities by 2025.”
T&E says the emissions of the taxi and ride-hailing market in London and Paris is the equivalent of adding an extra 250,000 privately owned cars to the road. French government data shows that 90 percent of the registered private hire vehicles are powered by a diesel engine.
Uber has 3.6 million users in London and 2.7 million customers in France. T&E is urging candidates in the Mayor of Paris campaign to commit to reducing Uber emissions if elected.
‘Uber has no excuse’
Olivier Blond, president of Respire, the national association focused on air quality improvement, said: “With 78 percent of young people saying they’re ready to pay a little more for zero-emissions cars, Uber has no excuse for not upping its game, abandoning diesel now and switching to 100 percent clean vehicles.”
The sample size of the YouGov survey was 12,523 adults from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Belgium.