Why Uber and Lyft Really Want You to Stop Driving

In a series of announcements from Uber and Lyft this week, the ride-hailing rivals are doubling down on their fight against private cars—and making some big claims about their eco-friendly bona fides.

Uber announced a $10 million commitment over the the next three years to sustainable transportation, including a $250,000 donation to the nonprofit SharedStreets, which uses an open-data platform to help cities better map their streets, aiding in transit planning. Another chunk of that money will go toward their ongoing campaign to press New York City lawmakers to impose congestion pricing policies on Uber’s biggest market, and beyond. In a blog post, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote that the company is “ready to do our part to help cities that want to put in place smart policies to tackle congestion—even if that means paying money out of our own pocket to pass a tax on our core business.”